


Naruto Karyuden

by TheCranesbill



Category: Naruto
Genre: Altered canon, Alternate Universe - Canon, Dad naruto, F/M, Naruto-sensei, Next Generation, Post-Canon, Uzumaki Clan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:48:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 47
Words: 254,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28645488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCranesbill/pseuds/TheCranesbill
Summary: After the Fourth War, the Uzumaki clan's long forgotten secrets are unleashed onto the world- the Great Beasts.As Chunin, Naruto and Hinata travel to the Great Nations, picking up three students along the way to nurture as the next generation.As Jounin, Naruto officially becomes their sensei and they face the threat together with the Hidden Leaf's newly reformed Uzumaki clan.
Relationships: Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 8
Kudos: 10





	1. A New Beginning

**NARUTO: KARY** **ŪDEN (** ナルト - 渦流伝 **, _NARUTO: WHIRLPOOL CHRONICLES_ )**

* * *

**The concept of this fic started during the very early stages of the Fourth War arc and so some things are different from the canon which is the nature of all fanfics, anyway.**

**1)** Naruto doesn't take 2 additional years to realize Hinata may or may not like him. For the purposes of this fic, imagine that 'The Last: Naruto the Movie' happened right after the war, not two years later. **  
**

 **2)** There is no Sixth Hokage (yet). Tsunade remains Fifth Hokage during the peaceful period.

 **3)** Orochimaru is actually dead, and Team Taka are imprisoned.

* * *

**While the story does follow Naruto and Hinata, there will be a good deal of focus on their students and the relationships that they make, and sometimes the focus will be entirely on them. So OCs will be aplenty.**

* * *

**A NEW BEGINNING**

A crowd has gathered outside of Yakiniku Q, one of the Hidden Leaf's most famous barbecue restaurants, although they were not there for the reason staff would've liked. No, they gathered because they'd heard a certain someone is currently inside. Shouting his name, demanding to enter just to get autographs. They've been getting really pushy and disturbing the customers inside.

One staff member was picked as a 'sacrifice' to go to a private room and speak to the particular group that had drawn to the establishment. Usually valued customers were not to be disturbed, especially ones of their status and reputation, as they tend to have larger than life attitudes and service staff are always the ones who have to deal with it, but extenuating circumstances call for it this time.

The man excuses himself and slides the door open. He takes a look at the VIPs inside. A group of 11 shinobi, 7 men and 4 women who distinguished themselves in the Fourth Great Ninja War and are on their way to high ranking positions in their fields, despite their relatively young ages at 17 years old.

The woman steadily on her way to heading the medical teams, following in the footsteps of the Fifth Hokage. The man who's already sitting by the Hokage's side as an advisor. Many would-be leaders of their respective clans with longstanding histories and traditions. But most of all, the Hero of the War. The man who quite literally saved the world.

"Uh, pardon the intrusion, Lord Uzumaki." He addresses the man sitting in the middle next to a rather beautiful woman with lavender hair. "The people outside are becoming more difficult to keep at bay. It's… bothering the other customers." The member of staff embarrassed to have to ask this avoids eye contact.

Tenten gives a light chuckle leaning on the table. "Ah, the pain of being famous."

Naruto scratches the back of his head in embarrassment. "I'm really sorry 'bout this. I'll… try and do something about them." He stands up, letting go of Hinata's hand that he'd been holding, and makes his way outside followed by the waiter. The young woman blushes and focuses intently on her plate.

Shikamaru sighs. "We can't even have a simple meal together. It's already a drag to get our schedules to match without all of this getting in the way."

Kiba laughs. "Hey, it's not our fault we're heroes! Well, maybe it kinda is. But it's natural people would crowd around, hahah!" He tries to snatch up some meat from the table but is sniped by Choji's ever-watchful eye (when it comes to food, at least). "Hey!"

Shino takes some food from his side of the table. "Kiba, the people outside are not here for us but for Naruto. Why, you ask? Because Naruto is the one who saved everyo-" He looks around to see his companions chatting to each other. He lowers his head dejected. "No one is listening."

Ino smirks and leans over the table closer to Hinata. "Naruto's only been gone for a few seconds. You don't have to look so lonely already. If you two are gonna be a couple, you'll need to get used to it, you know. There's nothing uglier than jealousy."

Sakura mutters behind her cup. "Like you're one to talk."

Hinata's blush deepens. "No, that's not it, at all! I would never…"

Sakura intervenes in aid of her friend. "Come on, Ino, knock it off. We can just be happy for them. But, man, I never thought the blockheaded Naruto and the shy Hinata would be the first of us in a relationship." She sighs. "Makes me feel I'm wasting my time…"

"Oh, don't feel that way, Sakura. You're strong, capable, and beautiful. I'm sure you have many admirers." Hinata reassures her friend.

"Thanks, Hinata." The pinkette smiles.

Ino teases her. "Maybe your brutish strength is scaring them off." The two stare each other down following the comment.

At this point Naruto returns to the room with the waiter.

Sai speaks up, being mostly quiet during the party. "Oh, they've already dispersed?"

"Uhh kinda? I left like 10 Shadow Clones outside and told them to take the crowd somewhere quiet. They're dealing with it now."

"Hm. A surprisingly smart way of dealing with it. Well done."

"... I feel like that was more of an insult than a compliment." Naruto brushes it off and turns to the staff. "Could you hand everyone else a bottle of something for home? As a way of saying sorry. Uhh nothing too extravagant."

The man looks surprised. "Um, yes, of course! I'll pick something adequate." He bows and takes his leave.

Naruto once more takes his seat next to Hinata, who smiles at his return.

Sakura reaches over and lightly taps him on the shoulder. "Look at you, spending your hard earned money. But you better not go overboard. Leave some to buy gifts for Hinata. She deserves a lot for being willing to put up with you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." He looks down to his new girlfriend and smiles. "A lotta people keep telling me that. I'm not a kid anymore, y'know."

Shikamaru interrupts by standing up, holding his cup. "Alright, before something else happens to interrupt us. Let's toast. We probably won't be able to all see each other for a long time. Tomorrow, Naruto and Hinata leave for a long mission and won't be back for a long time, so we gotta make the best of it."

The proposition came in some weeks ago for a cultural exchange of sorts. People from each Hidden Village would travel to other villages to keep the good relations created during the war. And Naruto being the hero respected by all villages was heavily requested and he eagerly agreed to do it. It would be a long endeavor and need several months-long stay in each of the foreign lands.

It was then that Hinata was pushed by friends and family to not let him slip away again and she confessed her feelings which were readily returned. So the Hyuga decided to join her childhood love in his journey.

Shikamaru takes a look around the private room, at all the people he's known for practically his entire life. "We've all been through a lot and we'll go through a lot more in the future. The world's changing and we're all gonna be on the forefront of it whether we like it or not. So… uhh, I guess I wanted to say thanks for everything so far and… I look forward to working with you all."

Ino sighs and stands up as well "Seriously, you sound kind of formal and depressing. We're still going to see each other, silly. This isn't going to be our last party."

"That is right, Shikamaru!" Lee jumps to his feet. "We're all in our springtime of youth and nothing can take it away! We must treasure every single moment we have and do our best to create even more moments to treasure!"

"Right… Well, I just wanted to say it, is all."

Everyone stands up and toast to their friendship.

The group of friends would continue the festivities, unaware that this would be their last time with all 11 for the next 2 years, longer than any anticipated. They continued well into the evening, chatting about any random thing that crossed their mind, catching up on their newfound responsibilities.

This would all come to a close when Lee accidentally drank from Tenten's sake cup and ended up destroying a wall. Tenten agreed to help Lee pay for the damages. If her wallet could cry, it would.

* * *

The sun already set long ago and the party over, Naruto and Hinata are walking along the streets of the Hidden Leaf on their way to the Hyuga estate. The two and only slightly rosey-cheeked from the drinks. Some overdid it, but they did have a mission tomorrow so had to measure their drinks.

"Um, Naruto?" The blonde looks to Hinata by his side as they're walking. "Why did you agree to the mission tomorrow?"

"Hmm. Well, I figured I gotta, y'know? It's like Shikamaru said, we have a lot of responsibilities. If we wanna keep the peace, we have to work for it. If I'm gonna become Hokage, then I have to work at it 100 times more than everyone else. And I thought getting to know the other villages better and be friends with 'em would help me to that goal. And I'm kinda dragging you into it, too." He gives an embarrassed smile. "Sorry."

"No! Don't apologize. I want to help, too!" She looks down to her feet as she walks "The Hyuga have spent a lot of time secluding ourselves. And even though we've had our reasons, I feel I have to take on the responsibility of making sure we're more open to others."

"Even if it means being away from your family for like a year?"

She nods. "A year away, but potentially generations to friendships. It's a small price. And besides, you're doing it, too. For the second time, even. Going away from the village and friends you care about to make sure you can protect it and everyone in it."

Hinata braces herself, knowing she's about to say something her younger self would have fainted just thinking about. But the sake and her actually being in a relationship with the one she's always loved gave her courage. "I… spent a lot of time following you, watching your back as you fought and moved forward. But now I want to stand by your side and look to the future with you. I was ready to gIve up when father announced Hanabi as the heir, but you motivated me not to. As you did everyone during the war. That's... exactly why I love you." She's looking down, her cheeks now red both from alcohol and shyness.

Naruto stops and turns to face her. "Hinata…" he places his hands on her arms and stands closer to her. "I... love you, too. And I'm so happy to be with you on this." Words he'd not really said to another person before. He'd proclaimed it many times to Sakura but it was never truly what he felt. He'd never had anyone close enough to say these words to and mean, until recently.

She looks up to meet his eyes. At some point they'd stopped walking and were facing each other. The moonlight beaming behind them, the quiet atmosphere of their surroundings, the rush from the alcohol… All the elements were there to lead them to lean closer to each other. Naruto leans down slightly, having grown quite taller over the years. In the romantic moment, they embrace and their lips meet. A moment both of them probably envisioned differently, but one they welcomed. Hinata grasps Naruto's sleeves as if to make sure this isn't some sort of hallucination.

Reality kicks in, however, with a throat being cleared. They break away immediately and look to a wall next to them. Atop it is a teenage girl. Her brown hair frames her face, reaching just above her shoulders, with a strand going between her eyes; eyes a very distinct pale colour.

"H-Hanabi? W-What are you doing here?" Hinata asks in a slightly more squeaky way than she probably intended.

Hanabi points behind her with her thumb. "I live here."

Finally noticing their surroundings, Naruto and Hinata see they were already at Hyuga estate without even realizing it. Hinata looks to Naruto, to Hanabi, to the estate, in a panic. "Excuse me!" and rushes off inside, leaving Naruto bewildered.

Hanabi grins and gives Naruto a thumbs up "Good job." and she Flickers inside after her sister.

Naruto returns the thumbs up belated only after both sisters have left. He blinks and begins walking. After a moment he realizes he should be walking in the opposite direction.

* * *

Iruka has work at the Academy early in the morning. Because of that, he tried going to bed a couple hours ago but it just wasn't taking. He has this nagging feeling that he should be doing something else but he has no idea what.

Maybe that knocking on the door holds the answer. Wait, what? "It's the middle of the night, who'd be visiting at this time…" he muses to himself as he quickly gets dressed in something better suited for greeting people, even if they're knocking on your door in the dead of night.

He opens the door to unexpectedly be met by locks of blonde hair.

"Naruto?" Iruka raises a brow at the sight of his student.

"Heya, Iruka-sensei! You awake?"

"Well, obviously. Why are you- Wait, are you drunk?" Iruka notices his reddened cheeks and his need to lean on the doorframe.

"I mean, a little. We had some barbecue and had some drinks. Not a lot, a little."

"Yes, you mentioned. Well, don't just stand there, come in." Iruka sighs and opens the door wider for Naruto to walk in, pardoning himself for the intrusion. Iruka leads him to the kitchen where Naruto sits down while Iruka goes to the sink to fill a glass with water. "So how does the barbecue lead you to being here?"

"It's just been a while since we talked, y'know? And I leave for a long mission tomorrow and I didn't wanna leave without saying bye or thank you."

Iruka places the glass of water on the table in front of Naruto and sits down himself. "Thank you? What for, I haven't done anything."

"Not true. You've done more than I can say." He grabs the glass with both hands but doesn't drink it, instead just staring it down. "If you didn't believe in me way back when, I don't know what I would've become. You really saved me."

Iruka scratches the back of his head. "I'm not sure I'd go that far. Believing in your student is a teacher's job. Maybe it took me a while to realize it."

"But at that time no one believed in me, only you did. You saved me. And because of that I got to where I am now. I got strong, I have a lot of friends, ... I have Hinata. So… thanks."

"Naruto…" Iruka inches his chair closer and places a hand on his student's back. "That… means a lot. Thank you. But make no mistake, you were strong even back then. Not many could've gone through what you did and turned out as well as you did."

Naruto drinks the water he was given. "Because they don't have a teacher like you." He smiles at his teacher and if he was more sober he might see him fight back tears. "Anyway, I should get going. I'm keeping you awake." He stands up and makes his way out the door. "Good night, Iruka-sensei."

"Good night, Naruto." Iruka closes the door and wipes his eyes with his sleeve. He goes to bed with a newfound motivation to do even better at the Academy.

* * *

The sun has barely broken through the horizon, peeking over the Hokage Monument. For many people this would be too early for anything. Naruto was usually one of these people, but not today. He's stood in front of a mirror, wearing clothes that he's never worn before.

A dark shirt where the only orange is a streak going from his shoulders to his arms. Metal arm guards cover his … well, arms, with a metal plate providing protection to the back of his hand. His artificial right arm is bandaged as usual. His pants are the same dark colour as his shirt and have the standard kunai pouch strapped to them and they're tucked into ninja boots that go up to his calves.

He ties a forehead protector around his… well, forehead. Many of these items seem to have self-explanatory names. The cloth matches the rest of his outfit and while the metal plate itself has the Hidden Leaf symbol as one would expect, it has the distinct feature of 2 small horns protruding from its corners. A custom job but one that was readily provided for him and a gesture that put Tsunade in an overly happy mood.

He takes a good final look of his attire, making sure everything is in place. He then takes the final piece to wear. A plain dark green flack jacket, a brand new model that's now worn by the Hidden Villages of the Five Great Nations, varying only in colour. A set of pouches are attached to a belt around the waist for a shinobi's scroll-needing purposes.

"Well, whaddya think?" He gives his usual grin, which eventually fades when he hears no response. "... Hello? … Oi!"

 _ **"You truly don't know how to give someone privacy, do you, Naruto?"**_ A booming voice echoes in his mind. " _ **Your appearance is of no consequence."**_

"Well I won't let my mood be ruined! My first official day as a Chuunin, finally."

_**"Hrm"** _

He looks at himself in the mirror for a few more minutes. With the support of practically everyone in the Hidden Leaf and even other villages, he was promoted to Chuunin after the war and he already had a mission waiting for in a couple of hours. He could probably go to the Hyuga estate to check up on HInata. But what if he runs into her sister and she brings up last night? What if her father saw? They all have the Byakugan, they can see anything from anywhere! Maybe skip the Hyuga estate for now.

Thinking back on everything, he can't help but be embarrassed at how he missed the hints made obvious in hindsight. But things are different now. Oh, he's still oblivious to plenty of things but he has someone closeby to help him with that. And to top it off, the two of them are to be together on this mission for quite a while. Alright, that's all set. He heads out of his apartment ready to meet the day. He can eat some Ichiraku Ramen before they head out for their mission.

* * *

A more reasonable time of day now, Naruto lands in front of the Gates where Hinata is already waiting. Punctual as always.

She's different from mere months ago. Instead of the baggy clothes she wore initially, she's also wearing the Hidden Leaf flack jacket but her clothes beneath are more dark purple than black and baggier than his. Probably to allow more freedom with her taijutsu, he gathers.

They approach each other, both blushing.

"Naruto, you… look good. It suits you."

"Y-yeah, you, too!"

At the station by the gate, Izumo coughs very much on purpose. "You two here to flirt or do you have a mission to get to?"

Seriously, it's not enough they get to go out on actual missions but do they have to rub it in that they're an item?

"Oh! My apologies" Hinata turns to Kotetsu and Izumo, the usual suspects when it comes to guard duty.

Naruto gives a mock salute while Hinata gives a proper bow. "Kotetsu, Izumo, thank you for your hard work." and presents their mission scroll as proof they're going out for business.

Kotetsu takes it and quickly scans over its contents. "Heading out, huh? Must be nice not being bound to one place."

Izumo writes down some details in a scroll and stamps the couple's mission scroll. "Here you go. Have a safe trip, you two."

Just as they're about to turn to leave, a voice calls out to them. "Naruto! Hinata!" They turn around to see its source is none other than Tsunade, followed closely by Shizune holding Tonton.

"Lady Fifth? Why are you all the way out here?" Hinata asks.

"Hey, I'm glad I caught you just in time. Something new came up. A side-mission, if you will." She hands them a mission scroll. "There've been reports of shinobi going missing around the border with the Land of Steam. Shinobi from the Hidden Leaf, Hidden Hot Waters, and even whatever shinobi the Hidden Sound has left since Orochimaru's death. Since you're going in that direction, anyway, I'm assigning you to investigate the disappearances and hopefully apprehend those responsible."

"Won't that slow us down? The Hidden Cloud is expecting us, y'know?" Naruto interjects.

"It's fine. The Hidden Cloud knows about this. In fact, they're sending a team of their own, as is the Hidden Hot Water. You're to cooperate on this and once done, you'll go with the Cloud shinobi."

Hinata reads over the report. "Hidden Cloud? I understand the Hidden Hot Waters as this is happening on the border so they may have suffered losses, as well, but why the Cloud?"

"They've been chasing after some criminals that escaped in the war. They think some of theirs might be involved so they requested permission to investigate. You're to meet in Kusatsu Town."

"Yes, ma'am." Hinata bows.

"But did you really need to come all the way out here to tell us this? Could've sent someone with the scrolls instead of coming out yourself." Naruto asks.

Tsunade's eye twitches and lightly smacks Naruto over the head. "Whatever, brat, just get going."

Naruto rubs his head. "Yeah, yeah. See ya!" And the two walk out of the Hidden Leaf to venture on their journey, hand in hand.

Just outside the village, Naruto turns to face the Hokage Monument. The First and Second he had the honour of fighting alongside, the Third who he looked up as his own grandfather, the Fourth who he had the pleasure to call father, and Granny who was… well, Granny. He raises a hand to the monument and balls it into a fist. A promise and an oath he'd made before already. To come back better and stronger than ever and to not fail them. Hinata smiles at his gesture.

Shizune watches on for a bit before turning to the Hokage. "Is that fine? You didn't even say what you wanted to say."

Tsunade smiles and turns around to head back to her office. "No, this is fine. To begin with, our relationship was never like that, anyway." She turns around to get one last look at the two. It feels like so long ago that she scoffed at Naruto's every word and thought nothing of him. She was among the first to learn how powerful Naruto's determination is and that his words were never empty. He'll definitely make a worthy successor one day. "Take care of each other."

* * *

Somewhere in the Land of Fire, deep within a dark cave a dozen cloaked figures surround a stone altar, standing several meters away from it to form a circle. They're all forming the same hand seal, channeling their chakra into the altar and the unmoving body laying on top of it.

One man stands closer to the altar- black shirt and white stripes criss-crossing. Probably his most notable feature is his scarred face- one scar leading from his jawline to his nose and another from his forehead to his ear going through his eyebrow and chipping said ear a little bit

For the following minutes, the body becomes more and more disheveled as its lifeforce is drained by the mysterious ritual. The drained body opens numerous wounds, leaving the blood to drain into lines carved within the stone.

A symbol, a triangle within a circle, fills with blood.

"Hail Jashin."

Two new figures walk into the ritual chamber. A woman with long red hair tied in a ponytail and a man with an oni mask covering his face, only short brown hair visible over it. They're carrying another body, the flack jacket and headband of the Hidden Leaf. The body thuds on the ground, interrupting the ritual.

The man standing by himself turns around and walks over to them angrily, getting inches away from their faces.

"You incomptenet fucks. How many items do I have to tell you the ritual is for the faithful only?!" He spits as he speaks. Luckily the man has a mask for protection.

"Apologies, Lord Fudou."

"This is why I can't stand mercenaries. You haven't the slightest idea of our cause! Money-grubbing worms without a shred of ambition." He looks down at the corpse and kicks it "What's this one, then?"

"Yin Style. Medic and genjutsu user." The man speaks up while the woman simply looks stoic; internally screaming.

Fudou's mood brightens slightly. "Excellent. You're not as useless you make yourselves out to be. Be on the lookout for more of them. Medic ninja, Genjutsu users, Hiden users, Kekkei Genkai… anything. We need unique chakra for our purpose, ordinary ninja won't cut it.

The two nod and make their way out. Two the cloaked figures come to drag the body to the altar so the ritual may begin anew.

The woman walks forward, not seeming interested in whether her partner is with her or not. As she walks through the carved out rocks she ducks even though she was nowhere near hitting her head. The man lightly cocks his head at this but remains silent about it.

He speaks up. "I shall remain in Kusatsu to seek out any shinobi coming and going. You venture onto the paths for any travellers."

The woman snaps back and get in his face, not unlike Fudou did earlier. "You don't tell me what to do. Just because we're working for the same guys means jack."

"Very well. I shall remain in Kusatsu as you do as you please."

"You're damn right."

The two leave the dark caverns and are met by a mountainous landscape, a relatively small town visible in the far distance. The woman Flickers away to the roads leading in and out Kusatsu. Not because she was told, she just felt like it and it meant she'd be far from this guy. The man simply shakes his head and makes his way to town.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIVIA
> 
> This was originally a Naruto x Samui fic.


	2. Little Bird I

**LITTLE BIRD I**

Bedsheets fly off a bed as a small figure enthusiastically jumps out. A young girl, no more than 8 years old, brushes her messy brown morning hair back, allowing her to actually see now. Much better. She takes a look around the very small room containing a bed, wardrobe, and a desk. Not much but it has everything she would realistically need.

She moves to the window to draw open the curtains but hisses as the morning sunlight hits her eyes. Maybe it's a little too early for that. Closed curtains it is, then.

As she begins getting dressed for the day, footsteps outside the door draw closer and closer until the door to the room opens. A middle-aged woman, hair tied in a bun, pokes her head inside. "Kotori, time to-. Oh, you're already up. Good morning. If you're ready, be a dear and round up the other kids, will you?"

Kotori plops on a shirt and turns around. "Good morning, Miss Shina! Will do."

Shina smiles. "Thanks. And don't forget to brush your teeth." She heads back outside and closes the door.

Waking up more or less finished, Kotori ties her hair back in a ponytail, two strands of hair falling to the sides, framing her face. She makes her way outside to the corridor, a series of doors lining it. Kotori would eventually make her way through each room, making sure each child is ready to greet the morning.

Shina and the rest did an amazing job and were loved by everyone, but running the Kusatsu Town Orphanage was tough work, so many children took leading roles and acted as big brothers and sisters, even if they were technically younger. Kotori was one such child, eagerly assisting where she can- waking up the rest, fixing up snacks, doing laundry. It's the least she could do and it was a lot of fun, too. So it evened out.

She eventually makes her way to the dining hall, surrounded by an army of children who rush off to specific chairs as they each seem to have their own assigned spot. Kotori looks to Shina who's behind a bar along with two other women, preparing the meals for each of them. And there's a lot of them. "Rascals are all present and accounted for, Miss Shina!" She gives a mock salute.

Shina chuckles from behind the bar. "Thank you, Kotori. Can always count on you."

Kotori gives a grin. "Always! I'll go outside for a bit, keep my breakfast warm for me."

"Don't take too long!" The older woman calls out, but the young girl is already out the door.

The orphanage was not a large one by any means, but provided enough for the children. That included a playground area, which would soon become a warzone once breakfast has been had. So before that happens, Kotori wants the place to herself. She needs to focus.

She sits on the grass and closes her eyes. She brings her hands in front of her to form a hand seal- pinky and index finger stretched upward, fingertips touching, with the middle and ring fingers curled on the insides. The Bird seal. She exhales deeply and grunts continuously. It doesn't actually do anything to help, but… it feels like it does, so she does it, anyway.

Focus.

Focus.

Focus.

She feels a tiny spike in her chakra and opens her eyes excitedly, only to find a feather falling to the ground.

Kotori frowns. "Just another useless feather again." She grabs it from the air and clenches her fist. Through gritted teeth, she says "Why do I have this useless jutsu? Why can't I figure it out." She throws the feather aside and breaths in. "Right. Again." She forms a series of random hand seals, hoping desperately that this time something other than a feather will appear.

After minutes of fruitless attempts of only summoning feathers, she huffs and frustratedly falls back on the grass with a thud. Some of her feathers are blown away, only to return and fall on her nose, causing her to sneeze.

"Bless you." She hears steps approaching her and looks behind her to see a young man, around 18 years old wearing plain clothing. "Hey, kiddo. Hard at work?"

Kotori smiles widely and hops to her first, hugging the man around the waist, which is as high as she can reach. "Takeo! You're visiting today?"

He returns the hugs. "Yup! It's my day off, so I'm helping Miss Shina. And maaaaaybe have time to play around after."

"Yay! Then you can come watch me try my justu! I… haven't gotten far but I can make more feathers than before! So.. that's something." She looks down knowing her words are mostly to reassure herself that she's making progress.

She feels a hand ruffle her hair and looks up to a smiling Takeo. "Of course it is! You keep that up and you'll make a fine shinobi in no time!"

The two of them walk inside the orphanage together.

From the shadows of the nearby trees, a figure watches intently. He hums from under his oni mask. "A unique chakra, to be sure. Untrained, but unique." Just as he's about to Flicker away to find his partner he feels chakra tingling by his side.

He sits down back pressed against a tree and takes out a scroll and some writing utensils. Opening the scroll, it's blank but when he brings his hand to form a one handed seal, writing springs into existence.

" _Mizushi, report."_

The man takes the brush and writes a reply. " _Please refer to me as Barusa when on missions. It helps me remain in character."_

" _You don't have a character. Is Fudou any closer to finishing the Curse? The three villages have already sent people. Kusatsu will be swarmed in a day or two."_

" _He claims to be close and needs more unique chakra to finish it. However, I am not certain that he can accomplish this in time if shinobi have already set out."_

" _Do you see any merit in continuing? You're the one at the scene. If you think it's a lost cause, leave. There's no point in risking discovery."_

" _I believe I'll stay as long as I can. There's actually one thing I wish to make certain of. Fudou and his patchwork Jashinist remnants may not work for our cause, but there's someone else who might."_

" _We leave it to you. Just be aware the Hidden Leaf set out sooner and they've sent their jinchuuriki and a Hyuga. They may be close already."_

Fudou looks south-west where the Hidden Leaf is. "Didn't Itsu go… Oh dear." He quickly jots down " _I must go."_ and rolls up the scroll, Flickering in the direction of the Leaf.

* * *

Naruto and Hinata are sitting beside the road, taking a break from their long trip. It's about half a day before they reach Kusatsu Town and they're ahead of schedule. The Cloud and Hot Waters shinobi aren't due until tomorrow so they had time to spare.

Hinata was taking this time, much to Naruto's dismay, to teach him. An open book in her hand, she was quizzing her boyfriend on the various techniques, strategies, and disciplines that shinobi must know if they're to advance in the ranks.

Naruto had had enough. "AHHHH, why do I have to do this even while on a mission?" He protests by lying face first on the ground after absorbing too much information.

"You have to. I promised Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei to make sure you keep studying, so you can make Jounin when we get back. And it's good for me, as well, if I want to become one." She gives what Naruto considers a too cheerful smile given the subject is learning. Although it's a cute smile so he doesn't mind.

A slimy hand pats Naruto on the head. He lifts it to be met with another one who's been assigned to be a pain in his ass. A green toad about the size of a housecat. "Ya gotta keep at it, kid. I believe in ya!"

"Not just Hinata, but you, too, Gamashi..." He plants his face into the ground again protesting before his mood turns serious. Someone's watching. "Hey, Hinata." He says softly.

"I know." She responds quietly before continuing in a normal voice. "Well, then shall we continue? We have a long journey ahead of us. Another day's travel and then we'll have our next lesson."

The two of them pack their things in their backpacks once again while Gamashi dismisses himself back to Mount Myoboku. They take to the trees. So does their pursuer. They share a passing glance as they sense they're being followed.

Suddenly, the presence shifts. It's right behind them. From their peripheral vision, they see long red hair weaving through the air as their assailant moves right behind them with a kunai. Under normal circumstances, it would be too late. For normal shinobi, this would be the end.

Mid-air, with no place to maneuver, they'd both already gathered chakra in their hands in anticipation. They overlap their hands. A spinning sphere appears, growing in size, surrounded by a glowing aura in the shape of a lion. The sound of raw chakra gathering almost resembles a roar.

" **Spiraling Lion Fist."**

The chakra surges forward covering a great area. The nearby trees are blown away. Naruto and Hinata land on the ground, waiting for the dust and debris to settle. As it does, they see the figure that attacked them. Her right sleeve is torn off and her arm damaged, her hair was also caught in the blast. But she's still standing.

"So you noticed me."

Hinata activates her Byakugan and takes a battle stance. "You did well in hiding yourself."

Naruto forms his signature hand seal and summons two Shadow Clones. "We're just better."

The woman's eyes widen. "Byakugan? You're… a Hyuga. Here?" Severe anger is visible on her face. "I'll fucking kill you." She throws multiple kunai.

Naruto and his Clones rush towards the projectiles. From the back, Hinata thrusts her hands forward, causing a gust of wind to knock the weapons to the side, clearing a path of Naruto. " **Gentle Fist: Vacuum Palm"** Hinata notices them coated in blood, even though no one's been injured. Poison is understandable, but blood?

The redhead simply smirks. "You conceited brat. As if that's enough!" She tugs at the air and the weapons change their trajectory. Threads. They're sent flying to the blonde caught in the middle of them. The Clones are dispersed and in the smoke she takes advantage of Naruto being blinded to rush to Hinata. She sends another wave of kunai.

Hinata gathers chakra around her entire body and spins, sending out her chakra around to shield her as she does. " **Gentle Fist: Vacuum Palm"** The kunai are blown away again, but some were at an odd angle. They were blown not away from her, but above or to her sides. More strings?

Hinata glances down to the kunai and notices they're also blood-coated and attached to string. Whatever happens, she can't let those scratch her.

"Are you responsible for the disappearing shinobi?" She steps back to get away from the kunai.

"You'll find out when you die!" The woman shouts, her anger only increasing as she looks at the Hyuga. As she's about to tug at the strings, she hears a voice from behind.

"That doesn't even make sense." She glances back and is met by the blonde, except… his eyes are now yellow with horizontal slits, orange markings on his corner. Before she can react, he goes to strike her in the sides but his hand stops short of actually hitting her. Did he miss? Why? " **Sage Art: Frog Strike"**. She's sent flying into a tree with immense force even though there was no contact. She coughs up blood.

"You… you have a Dojutsu, too?" She asks with a pained voice.

"Not exactly. Now are you gonna answer? Is it you?" Naruto begins walking over.

The woman looks up and once she gets a better look at Naruto, she scoffs and tugs at a thread. It's covered in blood, just like the kunai. Hinata's gasps as she gets a better look at Naruto. It's small, but he was wounded in the initial assault. And there's more blood on the thread than his wound would suggest. He was injected.

"Naruto, wait!"

"I didn't get the Hyuga, but you look like you'll do just fine." She weaves a hand seal. Her eye bleeds. Naruto braces himself for whatever's about to happen. Veins seem to pop as her eyes gradually begin to redden. Almost glowing, even " **KETSU-"**

" **Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet"** She's interrupted by a surging of water. A giant liquid serpentine creature comes from behind her and envelops the area in front, where Naruto and Hinata are.

A man Flickers in front of the injured woman. "Don't be rash, Itsu."

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Barusa?!" Itsu screams at him.

"Stopping you from making a mistake." The masked man responds calmly as he weaves another set of seals. " **Water Style: Steed Puller"** Strands of water emerge from the Dragon directly towards Naruto and Hinata. They're beset by water from all directions and pulled to the center with a crushing force. Another set of seals, all done with great speed to not give his opponents enough time. " **Water Style: Water Prison."** The Dragon's size becomes smaller and spherical, pulling Naruto and Hinata to its centre. Even from outside, it's visible how the water pressure is pushing them from both sides, crushing them at its core.

It would take more than this to stop those two and Mizushi knew it. Judging from her actions, Itsu doesn't realize who's in front of her and that would have cost her dearly. He bites his finger and smears the blood on his palm before he begins weaving yet another set of seals. But during that, Naruto and Hinata were already beginning to escape. This would come down to the second.

With their bodies restrained, normal jutsu doesn't work. You can't move your hands well enough to form the seals but they have other means.

In both of Naruto's hands, spherical chakra forms fighting the raging waters of the Water Prison. But the Rasengan is stronger and this is no mere Rasengan. It's a more powerful version and will break through.

Similarly, chakra gathers around Hinata's entire body. The Hyuga are able to exert chakra from any part of their body although the hands are the easiest to do and the method any Hyuga is required to learn. Other body parts require more training, and the entire body? Even more so. She's still in the middle of training but has no other choice. He chakra bursts forth.

" **Gentle Fist: Body Blow!"**

" **Sage Art: Twin Great Rasengan!"**

The Water Prison bursts from the sheer power. The water falls like a shower. Mizushi is halfway through his seals. Naruto recognizes exactly what it is. A jutsu he's used plenty of times but the seals are backwards. Used not for summoning something to yourself, but summoning yourself to something. A way to escape.

They fall down and the moment their feet touch solid ground, Naruto rushes forward. He can't let them get away. Mizushi finishes his seals and slams his palm on the ground. Naruto is mere centimetres away. Seals cover the ground directly under Mizushi's palm. Naruto's fingers are a second away from grabbing the man by the mask.

"Not quite. **Ninja Art: Reverse Summoning."** A puff of smoke is blasted in Naruto's face. He closes his eyes and mouth but continues forward. He grabs the space where the masked man just was. Nothing. Naruto stops in the middle of the area and swings his arm, the sheer force sends the smoke flying away.

"Damn it!" Naruto curses. He looks around not at anything specific. It's almost like he's looking beyond what he can see. "I don't sense them anywhere."

Hinata walks over. "And I can't see them, either. We should hurry to Kusatsu and await the others."

"Yeah. Looks like we already know the culprits. That woman seemed to really hate you, Hinata. Do you know her?"

She shakes her head. "No, I've never seen her. And that worries me more."

Putting that to the side for when they have more time. They run to Kusatsu.

* * *

Mizushi and Itsu appear atop a water tower in the middle of a town.

Itsu immediately goes to punch her partner. Her wound flares up and she doesn't quite put as much force as she wanted to behind her but Mizushi doesn't even make an attempt to move. She punches the side of his head so she can actually hit him and not the mask. He flinches slightly at the impact.

"You fuck! What were you thinking interfering?!" She grabs him by the collar. He doesn't react. "I told you you think just because we're working for the same wacko that doesn't mean you can just jump and teleport me away! We're not friends and I don't need you to do shit."

Letting her vent, he places his hand atop of hers as a sign to let go of his shirt. She does so in a less than peaceful manner, shoving him back. "You're correct- friends we are not. However, the person you attacked was no ordinary shinobi. He is the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox and the hero of the Fourth War."

"What? That guy was?"

Mizushi nods in response. "He is not easily defeated. And even if he were, he has another purpose to serve."

Itsu gets right in his face. "Don't tell me who I can or can't beat. And what do you mean another purpose? A jinchuriki's exactly what Fudou needs. You bastard, what are you planning?" She squints her eyes at him. "Are you gonna betray Fudou?"

"Betray is such a strong word. To begin with, neither of us owes an allegiance to him, correct? Why would you care?"

"Because if you drag down Fudou you drag me down, too, and I'll cut off your head before you can do that, got it?" She drags a finger across his throat.

"Cut? Why result in something of that calibre when you seem to have a more… unique method… You were about to show the jinchuriki what you're yet to show me. My feelings are quite hurt."

"You bastard. If you plan on selling me out to Fudou, I'll kill you before you can even think it."

"Oh, not at all. My days would be quite dull if I did. My intent was not to threaten, but to offer a closer alliance. We've not trusted each other so far. So how about we start? I sense this to be a profitable partnership."

"Whatever." She brushes him off. "You talk about partnership or whatever you feel like later. Those two are probably coming here. They talked about having a long trip, but that was only after they apparently sensed me."

"A ruse."

"Don't interrupt me. Kusatsu Town is the closest so they're probably headed here. We need to tell Lord Fudou."

"Or. We can deliver to him something that may assist with his… project. There's a girl in the orphanage. She possesses a unique jutsu. Kekkei Genkai, I presume, although it's not one I've heard of. Her chakra should be potent even if she herself is unskilled in using it."

"And if he completes his thing using her chakra, he can probably take on the Nine-Tails. Unless you have other plans... Alright, let's go grab the kid." Itsu steps on the edge, ready to Flicker further into the town.

"Please, no need to resort to such methods, it would attract even more unwanted attention. This is precisely why we have the mayor." If his mask didn't hide it, she'd be able to see a slight but sinister smile creep across his face.

Mayor Tesaki is fidgeting in his room. Walking in circles, rearranging things that don't need to be rearranged. He's been getting nervous lately. When some rogue ninja came to Kusatsu and threatened to expose some dirty secrets, he had no choice but to agree when they asked for shelter. Anyone would do it, right? They'd be gone soon, anyway, right? They usually check in on him as a scare tactic to keep him in check. Except they haven't done it lately. Is that a good thing? Have they moved on?

He stops his nervous pacing and looks out the window at Kusatsu Town. He'd worked too hard to lose all of this. He sighs and closes his eyes. If only this problem would go away. When he opens his eyes, he sees the problem staring at him in the reflection.

He screams an undignified yelp and presses himself against the glass. He didn't even hear them enter.

"W-w-w-w-what are you doing here?"

"Greetings, Mayor Tesaki. We would like to adopt a child." Mizushi greets the mayor normally.

"Adopt? What?" He looks between the two.

"Yes, we are deeply in love. And desire a daughter. Around 8 years old. Able to use jutsu. You wouldn't happen to know any who match the description?" He leans down and inches his masked face closer to the mayor.

The portly Tesaki gulps.

* * *

By late afternoon, after a day of working at the orphanage, Kotori and Takeo are out in the orphanage's yard with the young girl jumping in excitement. Miss Shina is sitting on the wooden porch while other kids are running about and playing games as her colleagues try to make sure they don't hurt themselves or each other.

"Alright, go stretch, I'll be with you in a bit." Takeo instructs the girl as he goes to stand by Shina. "I know she'll tell me she's fine, but how is she actually doing, Miss Shina?"

The older woman sighs. "She wouldn't tell me, either, I'm afraid. She's been nothing but cheerful and energetic in front of us but I wouldn't be surprised if she's growing discouraged. But I know having you here helps her a lot. I can't thank you enough, Takeo."

"Oh, there's no need. Just because I don't live here anymore doesn't mean I'll cut off ties. You raised me, Miss Shina, and so many others. It's the least I could do." He gives her a bright smile.

Shina truly felt blessed to have such wonderful children. "Thank you."

"I'm done! Let's go!" Kotori calls out.

Takeo chuckles and goes to her, taking a combat stance which Kotori imitates. He may be young, but Takeo is a Kusatsu Town guard and knows a thing or two that he can teach. It takes some tries for Kotori to properly imitate her elder and to correctly use them in a mock spar. But she was determined.

Miss Shina wasn't entirely sure about teaching the girl fighting techniques, and it took a lot of effort to convince the others not to learn, too. But if Kotori is to be a ninja, she'll need everything she can get. Typically kids her age are already learning in a Ninja Academy, but they just don't have the means to send her. But maybe if she can prove herself, she'll be able to get in.

Deep down, Shina doubted whether it's possible but wanted to keep hope.

She's taken out of her musings of Kotori's future by her and Takeo coming over to rest after finishing their training. Takeo is ever so slightly winded while Kotori is drenched in sweat.

Shina chuckles. "Alright, looks like it's the bath for you."

Just as they're about to head inside, one of the carers at the orphanage finds them. "Miss Shina there you are. Mayor Taseki is looking for you."

"The mayor? Whatever for?"

On cue, the portly mayor walks outside. "What one usually goes to an orphanage for- an adoption." He's quickly followed by a man dressed in ordinary clothes and vest, straight dark hair. Something about him is off putting. He looks too stiff and his eyes immediately focus on Kotori. "This gentleman would like to adopt Kotori. He's a ninja and asked for any potential candidates to pass on his legacy to."

Takeo looks excited. "A ninja? That's awesome! Your dream can come true sooner than we thought, Kotori!"

By all accounts, yes, this is more or less exactly what she dreamed about every day. This should be a cause for celebration. And yet it's not. This man's scary. There's a feeling of unease that she's never felt from anyone before. Her basic instincts are telling her to run.

Shina looks just as skeptical. She's seen so many people come and go over the years but this person was different from all of them. His demeanor wasn't one of a person looking for a child but the mayor is the one who brought him.

"Then let's go to my office to speak." Shina wanted to get to know all potential adopters beforehand, see how capable they are of raising a child. She's done it with everyone; it was policy.

"That won't be necessary, Shina. I'll take care of it personally." The mayor interjects. He's shifting in one place. He seems out of breath. Nervous. Barely even looking her in the eyes.

"Sir, it's proper procedure." She protests.

The mayor snaps which Shina has never seen from him. "I said I'll take care of it!"

The man steps closer to Kotori and extends a hand. "Come." The first word he'd uttered since making his presence known. Not even an introduction.

Shina protests again. It falls on deaf ears.

The man's hand draws closer to Kotori. She's scared. She wants to cry for help. Shina. Takeo. Anyone. She can't find her voice. She feels like she's drowning. She doesn't want to go with this man.

Her breath is shallow. She steps back and crosses her hands on her chest for comfort, holding her clothes tightly. The man approaches. Takeo is right next to her. She could grab on for dear life, but she just kept stepping back.

The man is right next to her. He reached to grab her.

No. No. No!

Kotori closes her eyes in anticipation, now frozen in fear. Nothing. Except gasps of surprise. She opens an eye to see another man standing between her and the ninja who wanted to adopt her. His blonde hair sticks out like a sore thumb from his dark clothes and green flack jacket.

But the most odd feature is his eyes. Yellow with horizontal slits. Orange markings around.

The blonde looks at the frightened Kotori and then back at the other man. "Whatever you're thinking, forget it."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NAME MEANINGS
> 
> Kotori (コトリ) = 'little bird'
> 
> Shina (シナ) = 'hope'
> 
> Takeo (タケオ) = 'warrior'
> 
> Taseki (タセキ) = 'pawn/minion'
> 
> Fudo (フドウ, Fudō) = 'wicked'
> 
> Itsu (イツ) = 'lost'
> 
> Barusa (バルサ) = no real meaning


	3. Little Bird II

**LITTLE BIRD II**

Naruto and Hinata are running through the forest not long after their encounter, running at a faster than usual pace.

"Naruto, I have a bad feeling about this." Hinata expresses her fears.

"Damn it, if only we could get there faster!" Naruto is visibly and audibly frustrated, punching a tree as they pass. "If only I could also…" He stops. A lightbulb clicks.

Hinata looks back and notices her partner is no longer running with her so she goes back to him. "Naruto?"

The blonde smears his blood on his palm and weaves the hand signs, slamming his hand on the trunk. In a puff of smoke, the same toad from before appears. From the unstable surface, he almost slips and falls off but manages to hold on for dear life.

"Oi! What gives?"

"Gamashi! Do you have a pond near Kusatsu?"

Hinata adds some information for clarification. "It's on the border of the Land of Fire and Land of Steam. Mount Shirane and Lake Yumiike are nearby."

"Ah, ye, I know that! Ya wanna go there? I can take ya there with Reverse Summoning."

Naruto gives a look of triumph which quickly switches to a dejected look. "Wait… we could've done this all along? Then why did we run all the way 'til now…"

"Ya never asked." The toad shrugs.

Hinata gives a sympathetic smile and pats him on the shoulder.

* * *

Naruto looks at the frightened Kotori and then back at the other man. "Whatever you're thinking, forget it."

Visibly surprised and confused, the man tries to break free but Naruto has too tight a grip on him. Naruto tugs his arm to put him off balance and places a hand on his stomach. Chakra gathers around his arm and the man is blown back from the force. Not a Rasengan. An unfinished version of it, the kind he made during his first training with Jiraiya.

The man is blown back but Naruto holds on for a moment later before the man begins dissolving in front of everyone's eyes and turning into liquid. Water Clone.

"Uzumaki…" The man says through gritted teeth before evaporating.

"You! What in blazes do you think you're doing?!" The mayor is furious. Naruto just glares at him.

Hinata Flickers right next to the mayor, a scroll in her hand. "Mayor Tesaki of Kusatsu Town, correct? We're sent on an investigation from the Hidden Leaf. We'd like to ask you some questions."

"Wha-? Leaf? I was never informed of this!" He snatches the scroll and reads through it. His face turns pale.

"Mayor Tesaki, what's going on? Why are Hidden Leaf shinobi here, who was that man?" Shina demands answers, standing right next to the mayor.

Meanwhile, Kotori stares up at the blonde in awe. He squats down to be eye level with the girl and gives a big grin. "Hey there, my name's Naruto. What's yours?"

"Uhh..." She blinks. "Kotori."

"It's nice to meet you, Kotori. You don't have to worry about a thing that just happened, alright? It'll all be fine."

She simply nods. Takeo comes to her side immediately, confused as to what had just happened.

"Let's speak inside, Taseki." Shina addresses the scared man with a steeled expression. "This way." She turns to the Leaf ninja and leads them inside, along with Takeo and Kotori.

* * *

Making their way up a mountainscape, Mizushi halts and looks back to Kusatsu in the distance.

"Oi, Barusa, hurry up."

"Uzumaki. He's already in town."

Itsu stops as well. "What? Already? How?"

"I don't know. But I must ensure he does not follow. You go on ahead and inform Lord Fudou." Barusa sits on the ground and weaves a series of seals.

"... Sure." Itsu makes her way further up the mountain.

Mizushi sits down on a rock and begins weaving chaka. Seals and symbols spread out from under him. He does this until Itsu is out of sight at which point he stops and opens an empty scroll. He lays it down and takes a brush and inkwell.

From the corner of his eye, she spots Itsu fumbling again. Aiming for a footing further ahead than she should be able to reach, causing her to step on the side and pull herself up by focusing chakra on her soles. Mizushi makes a note of that, as well.

He begins writing. " _Naruto Uzumaki's here. He's aware of my and Itsu's presence and is definitely going to get involved."_ At the end he forms a one-handed seal and waits.

After some delay, writing materializes on the paper on its own. " _Sooner than even we anticipated. Take your leave. It's not worth it."_

Mizushi thinks for a moment and replies. " _No, I'll see this through to the very end. There may still be an opening. And as I said, there's someone else of interest."_

" _This Itsu that's also working for Fudou?"_

" _Yes."_

" _Is she worth the risk?"_

Mizushi pauses. " _I believe so."_

" _Then do as you will. We trust your judgement. Just be careful, Mizushi"_

" _As I've said, please refer to me as Barusa when on missions. It helps me stay in character."_

" _... You don't have a character."_

The writing all disappears and Barusa huffs. He rolls up the scroll and begins following Itsu. Unbeknownst to him, there's something in his eye. The veins in his eyes have reddened unnaturally and subside almost instantly. Through his blood, through his chakra, his vision is connected elsewhere.

Itsu's eyes are blood red, her iris darkened, and her pupil- a horizontal purple slit. She saw everything through Barusa's, or rather Mizushi's, eyes. She clicks her tongue. "Bastard."

* * *

Everyone had sat down at one of the orphanage's guest halls. Mayor Taseki on one side and Miss Shina on the other, with Naruto and Hinata behind her. Takeo and Kotori were by door.

"Takeo, could you please take Kotori outside?"

Before Takeo could say anything, Kotori shakes her head. "I wanna stay. This is about me, isn't it?"

A part of Shina knew the young girl should be here to hear anything that was about to be said, but Kotori was mature for her age. Did that mean she shouldn't be treated as an ordinary 7 year old? She turns her attention to the mayor.

"How dare you?!" Taseki protests. "Who do you think you are to attack someone with no provocation! You Leaf speak of peace but this is how you're trained to act?" He rambles on.

Hinata speaks up. "Mr. Taseki, that man and a companion of his attacked us on our way here. And there have been several instances of shinobi disappearing in the region, and they displayed the skills to do so. They're our number one suspects. If you know them, then on the order of the Hokage and Daimyo, we'll have no choice but to treat you as an accomplice, with everything that entails." She was so confident in her speaking. Nothing like the meek girl Naruto knew before the war.

Naruto looks from Hinata to the mayor with his yellow eyes. "And don't bother lying. I can sense everything you're feeling. Every bit of anxiety and anger is oozing out of you right now."

Kotori looks up in surprise. Can a Ninja do that?

Shina pleads. "Mayor Taseki, please… What have you gotten involved with? What did you try to involve Kotori in?"

"That's…" He clenches his fists "I had no choice. They threatened me. I had to!"

"Had to what?" Hinata asks.

He lowers his head. "They needed somewhere to hide. Came here. They told me if any shinobi disappeared, to just say I know nothing about them."

"Disappearing shinobi? This is my first time hearing this. And how does Kotori factor into this? Was she going to disappear? Were you going to pretend you knew nothing?" At some point Shina had stood up in her anger.

Naruto places a hand on her shoulder. "Where are they?"

"I don't know. They just appear when they need something."

Her breath becoming shallow at the news that the mayor was about to give her away to bad people, she breaks free from Takeo and runs out the door. She thinks about where to head and the only place that comes to mind is the playground out back. But is it even safe now?

Takeo goes to chase after her but… what can he say? This is all so much and he doesn't fully get all of it. Can he even comfort her? He feels a hand on his shoulder and sees Hinata. "I can sense where she is. She's in no danger as long as Naruto and I are here." She comforts him instead. And it IS comforting to know capable ninja are here.

"But why this girl Kotori? They've been after ninja so far so why a little girl all of a sudden?" Naruto asks.

"Kotori is able to use a bit of chakra. She has a unique ability, a… kekkei genkai, I believe it was called. But she's untrained and doesn't have mastery over it." Shina answer.

"That would imply they're after something else. The shinobi must be taken somewhere and used as a workforce, or something more sinister." Hinata surmises.

Takeo draws closer to the table. "And you were going to give her to those kinds of people?! You bastard!"

"You never would've known! You would've continued living your peaceful life and so would everyone in Kusatsu! But now… they'll never let this slide. They'll retaliate. We're all dead now, anyway."

"Not if I can help it." Naruto speaks up in his usual booming voice. "Whatever they did to the missing shinobi, whatever they planned on doing to Kotori- it all ends now." He gives the mayor a very pointed look and heads outside, followed by Takeo.

The mayor begins standing up but a quick jab at one of his pressure points by Hinata stops him in his tracks. "Until reinforcements from the Hidden Cloud and Hidden Hot Waters arrive, you're to remain under supervision." She then turns to the other two present in the room. "I apologise, Miss Shina, I'm aware this is all so sudden and shocking, but I'd like to take Kotori elsewhere. If they're set on taking Kotori and attempt again, the orphanage won't be safe.'

"But if they want her, the orphanage would be the first place they try looking for her, putting the kids in danger. If they don't find her right away, the kids might be used as leverage. Ms Hyuga, I know I may be asking a lot right now. Please remain and protect them." She bows.

* * *

Takeo runs after Naruto. The blonde doesn't even look to be in a hurry and yet he's already so far ahead.

"Wait, Mr. Uzumaki!"

"You can just call me, Naruto. You were Takeo, right?" The man nods in confirmation. The two walk for a few moments in silence. "Kotori… what kind of jutsu can she use?"

"Uhh, I don't really know the details but she can summon feathers. They don't actually do anything but I know it's not something ninja usually do."

"So why isn't she at an Academy? If she can use chakra, she should be studying to be a ninja."

"Ah, well, the thing is, we don't really have the means to send her. The orphanage has its hands full with all the other kids so there's not really enough left over for the Academy. I'm actually saving some from my guard job to help her, but I'm also helping the orphanage so I don't really have a lot." He scratches the back of his head and gives a weak smile.

Naruto looks at him and smiles. "And you've been teaching her some fighting moves, right?"

"Huh? How did you know?" Takeo looks up confused.

"When me and Hinata came, you were both pretty winded and wearing lighter clothes. No one else was. And if you're a guard, you probably know a thing or two."

Takeo nods. "That's.. that's right. We figured if she knew a bit more, she might have an easier time to get in the Leaf Academy. She's only talked about ninja since she first figured out how to conjure those feathers, about how she'll support Miss Shina and everyone here. Everything she does is about becoming a ninja."

"So she's been working on her jutsu all on her own, huh…" That sounded awfully familiar. He only had himself growing up, where other kids had families to teach or support them. Or both. But Naruto… Although it isn't fair to compare their situations. Kotori apparently has the support of her extended family, so she had a bit of a head start.

* * *

Kotori is sitting on the porch just behind the orphanage overlooking the playground. She's hugging her knees and pressing her forehead against her legs. Just moments ago she could have been seen crying but now all there is to see are a pair of reddened eyes and a runny nose. She sniffs and uses her sleeve to brush her nose. A habit Miss Shina always scolded them for.

She hears and a cough made deliberately to alert her of a presence. The wooden boards squeak as someone sits next to her. She tilts her head ever so slightly, just enough to see who it is, and is met by a pair of deep blue eyes. She immediately hides back between her knees.

" _I blew it. I finally met a real ninja and I blew it. All those plans how I'm gonna impress them and this is what I show. Stupid. He's never gonna take me seriously"_

After some moments of silence Naruto mentions the first thing that comes to his mind as a subject. "Takeo told me about what you can do."

" _Great. He knows about my useless feathers."_

"That sounds pretty cool, y'know? Man, I wish I could do something like that when I was still learning."

"It's not." Her voice comes out muffled. "It doesn't do anything."

"Can I see it?"

Well, he already knows, anyway. Not much point in hiding it. " _I wanted to get better before I showed a real ninja."_ She forms the Bird hand seal and focuses for a few seconds. She strains her mind, pushing back whatever thoughts get in the way.

" _It's taking longer than it should. But I guess it makes sense since she hasn't had any real training."_ Naruto muses.

Finally, after what feels like an eternity for Kotori, a feather appears in front of her and begins swaying in the wind. Naruto grabs it mid-air and inspects it.

" _He probably already thinks I'm weak."_ Kotori buries her head in her knees once again.

"Hey, this is pretty cool! I wish I had something like this when I was learning."

Kotori doesn't budge. He's making fun of her. Gotta be. No one would be impressed by a simple feather. Naruto notices her reluctance and lightly grumbles, not entirely sure where to start. He looks up to the sky and breathes in.

"You're still a kid, y'know. I could barely do anything when I was your age." He crosses his legs. "It takes a lot of training and Takeo says you've been at it a lot. Even if it feels like you're not doing well right now, the important thing is to not give up. You're doing this for the kids in the orphanage, right? You care about them. That means you're on the right track of being a ninja- having a goal. And that'll push you to get better and better." His mind flashes to his younger days. All the times he failed a shuriken throw or a jutsu or a practice match, and how much he trained on his own after that. How he never let anyone's opinion bring him down. How he finally gained good friends to care about and who would care about him in return.

He gets up to his feet and gets off the wooden porch to stand on the grassy backyard. "When I was old enough to graduate, we were tested on our jutsu. The most basic ones that every ninja has to learn before they officially head out. I just couldn't do it and I was older than you are now." He begins weaving a set of seals for one of the E-rank jutsu. Hearing the distinct sound of hands moving to form seals, Kotori lifts her head to look at him. When Naruto finishes, a semi-transparent version of himself appears to his side, shape completely distorted- one leg above his head, an arm twisted behind his back. It more resembled a knot than a person. Kotori looks at him in disbelief.

"This is more or less what my Clones looked like. It was kinda pathetic." He scratches his head in embarrassment.

" _It's like my wilting feathers."_ Kotori looks at the failed Clone through puffy eyes.

"Everyone told me I couldn't be a ninja. Everyone made fun of me for my jutsu. But you know what I didn't do? I didn't give up. I kept at it. I trained suuuuuuper hard!" By this point, he's leaned over closer to Kotori, probably more than most people would be comfortable with but somehow his smile made her whole situation better.

He forms the same unique hand seal he used before and puffs of smoke fill the playground and from each puff of smoke, another five Naurto emerge. Perfect look-alikes The failed Clone in front of her fades from existence although Kotori hardly even notices as she watches wide-eyed at the display. " _All those books said ninja can do amazing things. Throw fire, control the wind… But he can make more of himself… If they can all do those amazing things…"_

"And this is what I can do now. Because I didn't let anyone's negativity stop me. Not even my own. For every single negative comment or thought, I put all that much work into my training. And now I'm probably the strongest ninja ever!" He gives a hearty laugh. Surely it's just boasting. Takeo also talks about how strong he is even though he's never shown it. And Naruto looks pretty close in age to Takeo.

"Can… Can I do this, too? If I train?" Her sadness seems to have been replaced and something else has taken its place. Hope. Enthusiasm. An even stronger desire to learn.

"Hmmm, well, maybe not this one exactly. But there's a whoooole bunch of jutsu out there. And you have your own unique thing! I have a lot of friends who use special jutsu and they're really strong. And I know you can be, too." He grins and ruffles her hair lightly. A gesture not unlike what his father did.

Kotori's expression shows a newly found determination at the display and the reassurance of the ninja in front of her. She smiles for the first time since meeting Naruto and gives a heavy nod, standing to her feet.

"Hehe, that's the spirit! Now let's go check up with Miss Shina. She's worried about you, y'know."

With that, Naruto leads her back into the orphanage. He dismisses the Shadow Clones when he hears a commotion from the upper floors, apparently some kids marveling at the multiple Narutos. It's probably going to take a bit to get them to calm down from seeing a shinobi. Sorry, Miss Shina.

* * *

Fudou throws a chair at the stone wall and shouts. "YOU FUCKS! You failed at the one thing you're being paid to do and now the Leaf knows we're here?! And just when I sent the others out! Shit..."

"It was unavoidable." Mizushi says, as Itsu just looks at him from the corner of her eye.

"Barusa, you go find the others. Itsu, you're staying here and preparing for the ritual. I'll need to assimilate whatever we gathered. If we're to fight the Nine Tails, even an incomplete Curse is better."

Mizushi nods and Flickers away.

"What do you need me to do, Lord Fudou?"

"Take place next to the altar and channel your chakra into it. It needs refinement."

She does as instructed, weaving the hand seal the Jashinists usually weave and begins connecting to the altar. It takes her some time to resonate with it. Meanwhile, her mind is filled with what Barusa said earlier and what she saw through his eyes. She grits her teeth.

"Lord Fudou, I believe Barusa is-"

Her sentence is cut short by a stabbing pain in her back. She gasps and tries to look back. Fudou grabs her by the face and slams her head on the altar, making her dizzy.

"I don't fucking care. You! You've been hiding something useful from me and the only reason I put up with it is because I needed you more as a hunter. But now I don't need your services anymore. Die and become a power source for Lord Jashin's Curse! Be grateful, mongrel. You finally get to be useful." He stabs her in the back again and her consciousness fades.


	4. Little Bird III

**LITTLE BIRD III**

The Kusatsu orphanage was uncharacteristically quiet. Nowhere was the sound of children playing and bickering, or of matrons trying to calm them, or of game rules being explained for the tenth time. After formulating a plan, it was decided for the orphanage to be evacuated under the guise of a field trip. The same was done to select buildings on the edge of town. The orphanage was the most dangerous place right now and Shina didn't want the kids anywhere close. A part of her wanted to go with them but her colleagues love the kids as much as she did and she wanted to be here for Kotori. She was more at ease when Naruto had a copy of himself go with them.

Presently, Kotori is sitting on the porch opposite of Naruto and Hinata. Next to them is Shina looking worried. Another Naruto is quietly sitting cross legged on the roof, orange markings around his eyes. Takeo is dressed in his guard uniform with his spear out. Mayor Taseki is fidgeting by the porch despite being told to stop multiple times by Shina. Two more Shadow Clones were sent out to lookouts outside of town.

Hinata instructs Kotori to form a seal and taps at specific points in her body. "I can help you release a bit more chakra. Can you feel how it moves through your body when you form the seal? Each seal molds your chakra differently and different combinations lead to different jutsu. Make another seal." Kotori does as told and Hinata releases the chakra points where the chakra is now flowing, allowing the girl to better feel what effects it has. "Most shinobi start training the basics at an early age. Your feathers aren't doing much because you don't know how to properly mold your chakra. But it should be easier to figure out now, right?"

An odd time for a lesson in chakra control but it seemed to put Kotori at ease. It served a double purpose of getting her mind off the people literally trying to kidnap her and also teaches her for her future as a shinobi.

Kotori is beaming, unable to contain her joy. "Yeah! I can feel it! So this is... chakra…" She forms another seal and Hinata once again guides her through the flow of chakra.

Naruto chimes in. "I told you Hinata's a good teacher! I mostly brute force it until I do it. But knowing the basics is the first step! From there on, you can train in a whole bunch of different ways to learn how to use your feathers."

Kotori nods. She forms the Bird seal. It seems to be what makes the feathers appear. She focuses as usual and before Hinata can intervene, one appears. Brown in colour with some black at the very tip. But instead of falling as usual, this one is flying in the air. "Ah! It's not falling! It's not falling!" She hops to her feet in excitement causing her to lose focus for just a moment. The feather falls limp. Kotori grumbles and tries again. The new feather falls.

"It's alright! You just gotta keep at it until you can do it every time! There's no shortcuts here. Only way to do it is through hard work and determination. Me and Hinata had to work a lot to get where we are so I know you can do it, too!" Naruto gives a thumbs up.

The mood is interrupted by whining. "How can you just sit there and play ninja while violent criminals are plotting who knows what?! We need to do something about them!"

Shina gives him a death glare. "And whose fault is it that violent criminals are a threat?" Taseki gulps.

"We're safe for now." Porch-Naruto points up. "The original me is keeping an eye for any chakra signatures that get near and the other Clones are doing the same. We'll know in advance when they come."

As if on cue, Rooftop-Naruto Flickers down. "They're here. West side."

"Is there any chance that's our reinforcements?" Hinata asks hopefully.

"No, there's too many of them and they have murderous intent. They're launching an all-out attack." Naruto releases his gathered natural energy. He can't be in Sage Mode when he does what he's about to do. " **Multi Shadow Clones."** The playground fills with smoke as hundreds of Narutos rush forward to where the enemies were spotted.

Everyone looks at them slack-jawed.

Kotori gulps. " _This is… a ninja's power?"_

Soon enough, in the distance a battle rages as the Shadow Clones engage the attacking Jashinist forces. Elemental Styles destroy the buildings on the edge of town as earthen pillars rise up, fires spew and burn rooftops, dust devils fling debris.

Taseki looks on in horror. Everything's being destroyed.

Hinata is actively looking with her Byakugan for any enemies that come closer. Chakra spikes within her field of vision. A person appears out of nowhere; the same one that attacked them with Water Style. "Naruto! On the right! The Summoner!"

Just as Naruto sends a Clone in his direction...

Mizushi crouches among the trees near the Kusatsu Orphanage. A small turtle near him disappears in a puff of smoke. He weaves hand seals and slams his palm on the ground. "I apologize, Kaidomaru, but the opponent calls for this. **Ninja Art Summoning: Rashomon."** A gigantic gate appears in the forest, crushing whatever trees were in its space. The imposing construct bears a demonic visage on its gates, large chains attached to bells that swing from under its roofing.

Standing atop it, Barusa places a palm on the tiles. " **Uzumaki-clan Sealing: Release"** The gates burst open as a wave of murderous intent renders everyone in the playground. What appears to be floating water comes forth; refusing to fall and filing the air with the liquid.

A monstrous being emerges. Easily the size of a Tailed Beast, this creature stands on its back legs pulling itself out of the Rashomon by grabbing onto the frame. A sturdy black shell protects its back as the rest of its body is covered in leathery hide. It opens its beaked mouth and screeches, causing the water on its flattened head to bubble.

Kappa.

A voice echoes from within Naruto. **_"Why.. Is that thing here? Naruto, this is bad; we need to push it back now!"_**

"Get them outta here" Naruto shouts to his clone. "Kurama! You can tell me what this is after we beat it."

 ** _"Right!"_** The Fox weaves his chakra along with Naruto's, going into Tailed Beast mode. Naruto glows surrounded by orange chakra as it looks like his clothes have become chakra itself.

Naruto charges at the creature and attacks with two large chakra claws. The giant Kappa turns its back and lunges at him, the shell blocking the claws. The impact produces a powerful shockwave that knocks Naruto back to the ground.

It rakes its claw through the air, gathering water and blasting Naruto with great force. This is much greater than any Water Style.

The masked man uses this opportunity to Flicker past, aiming right for the fleeing group. Tendrils of water surround him, flowing behind him like rope.

" **Water Style: Water Whip"** the tendrils lash out at Kotori. Hinata stands between them and sends the whips back with bursts of chakra.

"Naruto, protect them!" Hinata faces the masked man. "You won't get her."

Naruto's Clone takes Kotori's hand and begins running; Takeo, Shina, and Tesaki close behind.

The Kappa isn't going to be defeated by something of this level. Push it back and close the gates.

Naruto goes full Nine Tails Mode and he and the Kappa try to push each other back. Naruto begins gathering chakra for a Tailed Beast Bomb but is interrupted by a blast of water from the Kappa's mouth.

The surging water blasts Naruto back and out of his Tailed Beast chakra. Kurama's form dissolves as Naruto slams into the ground. But there's no time for pain. He immediately re-entes Tailed Beast Mode and he and the Kappa begin their sumo match anew.

"Damn it! It's so strong. What even is this…"

A remnant of the past. One I thought soundly sealed away. If our foe is able to summon it, we're not dealing with anyone ordinary. Your girlfriend is in for a fight.

Hinata activates her Byakugan. "You didn't run."

"It's not as if I could even if I wanted to." Water whips swirl around him ready to lash out at any point.

"You can escape the same way you did last time."

"True. However, this time I have a concrete task to accomplish."

Hinata focuses her Byakugan to look through his mask to get an idea of his identity but her vision is blocked. There're powerful seals placed on the mask. Powerful enough to block the Byakugan.

"I don't suppose you'd tell us your identity and motives."

"Not possible, I'm afraid. I'm sure you understand. **Water Style: Water Whip** " He swings his arms and sends the water whips to lash at Hinata.

The Hyuga does a basic maneuver, a series of strikes every young Hyuga learns. She expels chakra from her arms to push the water whips back. She runs to him.

Barusa jumps back. " **Water Style: Water Wall"**. A screen of water juts up in front of Hinata. A jutsu used for hiding and protection but how will it work against a Hyuga? Hiding is out of the question with that Byakugan so maybe it can at least serve as an obstacle.

" **Gentle Fist: Vacuum Palm"** A gust of raw chakra and air pushes past and sends the Water Wall flying.

" **Water Style: Water Fang"** The water puddles caused by Hinata breaking the wall begin swirling and form drills. They jut out at her from all directions.

" **Gentle FIst: Body Blow"** Similar to their last encounter, Hinata sends chakra out from her entire body in a shockwave of chakra. Some water is sent back but not all. Her clothes, bits of blood dripping through.

" _If only I could use Rotating Heaven…"_

Mizushi Flickers to the top of the building and Hinata follows. The two trade blows but neither finds the opportunity to get the upper hand with something bigger.

* * *

The Kappa pushes Kurama back into the orphanage. A good portion is destroyed and renders the roof unstable. Both Hinata and Mizushi fall off the three story building and see the chance to take advantage.

Hinata thrusts both her hands downward with great force. " **Gentle Fist: Vacuum Wall Palm"** a force of air larger than the Vacuum Wave is sent downward at Barusa.

" **Water Style: Water Gun"** Mizushi moves his mask to the side and spits a stream of water on a much smaller scale than what the Kappa used against Naruto. Unfortunately for him, it's not powerful enough to withstand the Mountain Crusher and Mizushi is sent flying downward at an even greater speed. He manages to regain his composure just before reaching the ground. " **Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet"** A liquid serpentine appears under him and goes upward. Mizushi is 'swallowed' and sent down the water dragon's tail at a slower pace, allowing him to reach the ground safely.

Hinata attaches thread to a kunai and sends it flying at what wall still remains standing. It latches on and Hinata is able to slow her descent, although it's made a bit more difficult by the rushing Water Dragon aiming right at her. She lets go and the Water Dragon rips the thread. She lands on her feet but the Dragon is now coming down toward her.

She gathers large amounts of chakra around both her hands. It bursts out like a flame. " **Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fist"** She thrusts upward to meet the dragon's attack. The Water Dragon loses its form and falls apart as rain.

* * *

Naruto's Clone is leading everyone through the streets. The roars of battle can be heard even from this distance.

Mayor Taseki curses. "Shit… what even is that?!"

Shina is holding onto Kotori's hand for dear life. "Something to run away from."

The five of them are stopped in an alleyway by cloaked figures surrounding them. They each ready a kunai and prepare to attack.

Naruto curses. "Damnit, some of them got through…"

"You couldn't even hold them at bay?!" Taseki protests.

They veer into a building, hoping to gain cover inside. The Jashinists follow suit and even overtake them by following alternate routes, jumping in through the windows. Before the shattered glass can even hit the ground, a couple engage Naruto to keep him occupied while the others are defenceless.

"Takeo! Run!"

Takeo runs to one of the rooms with the others. The ninja follow closely. The group hides behind a table, tipping it on its side. As the ninja enter, the table is sent flying at them. They expertly jump over it and head towards the people that were behind it. The fools. Now they're all exposed. The girl, the older woman, the fat mayor. … Wait, where's the guard?

Light catches something behind them. From their peripheral vision they have just enough time to see a spear tips swinging at them. The kid hadn't flung the table, he'd flung himself. The table was just along for the ride.

Takeo slices one by the neck and brings the spear back to stab the other in the back. He was young and not as experienced as others, but he'd had to fight off bandits. He'd seen blood spilled. He'd hoped to never show Kotori this side of him.

He takes a stance as others enter and see their dead comrades. They ready kunai.

Mayor Taseki grabs some sort of wooden pillar decoration by his side, readying it as a weapon.

Takeo sees this and warns him. "Mayor Taseki, don't do anything rash. Leave them to me." As he turns his attention to the cultists, something strikes his head and he falls to the ground dazed.

Taseki stands over him with the wooden pillar, breathing heavily.

"Taseki, what do you think you're doing?!" Shina shouts.

"SHUT UP!" He throws the pillar at Shina causing her to reel back to protect herself. The pillar smacks her hard and she stumbles. Taseki rushes to grab Kotori by the arm, dragging her to the cultists. "You just want this brat, right? Take her! Do whatever! Just please don't destroy the town." Taseki pleads.

"No! Let go!" Kotori tries to struggle free to no avail.

The Jashinists take Kotori and Flicker away.

"KOTORI!" Shina shouts and tries to run out after them.

Taseki grabs her by the throat and pushes her to the ground with all his weight. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! Because of one dumb kid, they're now destroying everything!" He squeezes her tiger as she struggles under him, unable to catch her breath. "You ruined everything!"

A sharp pain strikes Taseki's side. He coughs blood. He looks to the side to see a half-crouching Takeo holding the spear, pure anger on his face. He follows the spears shaft right to his body where it had stabbed him. Takeo thrusts forward pushing him off Shina. After a few moments, he stops moving.

Takeo lets go of his spear with shaky hands. "Miss Shina, I…"

She stands up and embraces him tightly.

* * *

In a sumo match against the Kappa, Naruto looks back to where his Clone's last moments were before being separated from Kotori and the others. The lapse in focus gives the Kappa an edge over him.

**_"Focus, Naruto!"_ **

"I know, damnit! But Takeo…"

_**"Isn't the one facing the Kappa right now."** _

"Let's finish this quick!" Naruto sends out all nine of his tails to latch onto the Kappa. 2 tails grab onto each of its arms, 2 wrap around its legs, while the remaining 3- around its head trying to get it to look up so it can't shoot any more water. Its movements should be stopped. He just needs to hold on for a bit while he gathers chakra.

A black ball forms at Kurama's mouth, bubbles of all colours materializing from the air and gather with the ball, making it larger. The Kappa struggles but can't break free. It can't use its black shell to block. Sufficient in size, the chakra ball fires. " **Tailed Beast Bomb"** It blasts the creature right in the stomach just as he releases the grip of his tails. It's flung backward which allows Naruto to push it through the door.

The Kappa's fall is stopped by the strange water that exists within the gates. It tries to swim back but all 9 tails slam it in the torso and push it even further back. Before it can regain its balance and swim back, Naruto closes the gates and the Rashomon gate disappears.

Barusa clicks his tongue. "It would appear we require more strength." Once again he moves his mask to the side and spits out water. " **Water Style: Exploding Water Colliding Wave"** This time it's a massive amount of water. A lesser tsunami forms and is sent directly to Hinata who has no choice but to Flicker back to try and avoid it.

Barusa uses this opportunity to smear blood on his palm.

" _But he said he has a task to accomplish. Does that mean… Oh no!"_

" **Ninja Art Reverse Summoning"** And with that, he disappears.

Without missing a beat, Hinata immediately rushes to Naruto. "Naruto! They have Kotori!" She looks incredibly worried.

Naruto Flickers besides her, his Kurama shape gone but still with his Shroud and wraps an arm around her waist. "Let's go." While he still has his Shroud, he can be there swiftly.

Knowing which building it is from his Clone's memories, they both arrive to see Shina and Takeo shaken up, a dead Taseki, and no Kotori. They're quickly brought up to speed.

Naruto focuses for a moment. He opens his eyes. "I know where they're going. Let's go."


	5. Little Bird IV

**LITTLE BIRD IV**

* * *

Mizushi and the couple remaining Jashinists meet up, Kotori kicking and screaming in their arms.

"Let go! Let go! Let go!"

She closes her eyes and brings her hands in the Bird seal and faster than usual, a feather appears. And another, and another, and another. For the first time she's able to summon more than one and none of them fall, they float. Before the cultists could even wonder what these are, they fly in their direction like kunai and stick into them, drawing blood.

"Shit." One of the cultists curses and hits her on the back of the head with a karate chop, knocking her unconscious. "Damn brat."

"You were aware she possesses chakra, knowing jutsu should have been expected." Mizushi calmly states.

The one carrying Kotori gives her to his one colleague who managed to get out while he plucks feathers off himself.

They need to move as quickly as possible. They have a bit of a headstart but that might not last long, and Mizushi doesn't have any means to teleport further ahead. Luckily the mountains have seals on them to prevent sensory types from spotting them, but that doesn't work as well if their pursuer knows something's up with the mountain.

They quickly make their way to the hideout in the mountains, and the main chamber where Fudou awaits.

On entering, they see Fudou already in the middle of a ritual, an unconscious Itsu lying atop the stone altar surrounded by chakra. She appears severely weakened but alive.

"Is that the girl? Place her on the altar and join the ritual. We'll extract chakra from both. This no-good mercenary was hiding such an enormous chakra reserve from us. It's been hours and she still has plenty to spare." The cultists do as instructed while Mizushi watches from the side. His eyes behind the mask are focused on Itsu. "Barusa, if you knew of her chakra but were keeping it secret, I'll fucking kill you myself."

"... No, sir, she never used any jutsu around me."

"You better not be lying. Now get out of here, you heathen, I've told you the ritual site is for the faithful only!" Fudou snaps.

"There may be pursuers. If they come, I'll need to protect the ritual." His head is facing the entrance but his eyes are still focused on the struggling Itsu. She's barely able to move, let alone fight back.

"This is it! This is what we needed! With this, Lord Jashin's Curse will be revived and we'll crumble this pathetic peace they're building! There will only be carnage." Fudou says those words through a dark grin, getting giddy just thinking of the murder he intends to bring upon the townsfolk. Even more than what his cultists have done in the initial assault.

Fudou cackles. His fellow Jashinists follow. Mizushi remains silent.

The cave rumbles. A series loud thuds is heard from the outside.

Mizushi looks to the entrance. " _Much faster than even I anticipated. I'd hoped there'd be enough time but alas…"_

"Shit, the seal's broken. How is he already on us?! Barusa, you worthless sack of shit, don't just stand there! Fix your mistakes."

Mizushi remains motionless for a moment. "No. This is enough."

"What?! I told you to go!" Fudou sees two Barusas, their forms fluid as parts of them are still water, run to the two remaining cultists and engulf them in water. They struggle to breathe and break from the ritual. Fudou turns around furious.

"You bast-" A hand touches him on the chest and a series of seals spring forth. A circular one around the palm and lines moving forth and criss-crossing. He's unable to move.

"Your project has failed, Fudou, but it can still be useful. We'll be sure to carry on your knowledge." Water and chakra emanate from Fudou's back, from a circular seal exactly opposite of Mizushi's palm. It gathers into a ball as Fudou's skin becomes paler and paler, until he falls to the ground. " **Uzumaki-clan Sealing: Soul Sphere"**

He looks to the woman and girl lying on the altar, their chakra no longer being drained.

* * *

Naruto and Hinata stand in front of what appears to be an ordinary rockside but their senses tell them otherwise. With the Byakugan and Sage Mode, there are seals in place.

Naruto's Shadow Clones run towards the seal with chakra swirling around their palms, growing larger and larger. " **Sage Art: Giant Rasengan Barrage"** The seals waver under the immense pressure and eventually break, the Rasengan going through the illusions and cracking the rocks the seals were placed on. The false stone surface disappears, finally allowing passage.

They both run in and are now able to sense… no one inside? They share a glance to make sure they're both seeing/sensing the same thing. Only Kotori is here.

They head right for the chamber to find Kotori lying next to a broken stone altar cracked in half, dead cultists, and no sign of the Water Style user from before or the woman with the kunai.

"Wha… what happened here? Did they have an infighting?"

"I'm not certain. It would appear that way." Hinata takes a closer look at her surroundings. She doesn't see anything within her range but she does focus on something she saw once the seals were broken.

The walls have multiple markings on them, pieces of rock risen in an unnatural way, and inside each and every one of them are shinobi corpses, the ones who disappeared in the surrounding area. "This is.. Horrible..."

"Hm? What is?" Naruto asks as he goes to Kotori and makes sure she's well.

"The missing shinobi are inside these raised stones. All the ones in Lady Tsunade's report and more."

"All of these?" Naruto looks around at the numerous stone markers on the wall. He looks saddened. "Shit… If only we knew sooner." He tries to ball his fist but holding Kotori reminds him of his priorities. "We gotta get Kotori back first."

"Yes, and once the shinobi from the other villages around, we can come retrieve the bodies of the fallen so they go back to their proper homes."

Before leaving, they investigate the area bit to find any pieces of information they can. Naruto and Hinata check the main chamber while Naruto's Shadow Clones go to the other rooms. As they're about to wrap up they hear footsteps. They prepare for a battle but are put at ease once they hear the voice. Singing. Kinda.

"Yo yo yo

Saw the town was put in suspense; got ready for justice to be dispensed.

Met a worried lady on the way who told us 'They went to the mountain, hey'.

Came in rushing for aid, slightly delayed, but punishment's already been conveyed.

Ya better know when all else fails, can always count on the Nine Tails!

Yeeeeeeah"

A dark-skinned man enters the room. His long silver hair is kept at bay by being tied into cornrows and held by a white forehead protector. He wears a flack jacket similar to the one Naruto has, just in white and with no shirt underneath. That can't be comfy. He also sports 9 swords all somehow supported on his back.

"Bee! Why didn't you say you were nearby?"

In a familiar empty space, ground resembling water, Naruto sees both Bee and Gyuki, with Kurama behind him.

I did. Did Kurama not relay?" Gyuki asks.

There was no need. We had it handled and we couldn't wait, anyway. Kurama explains.

Same old with you, eh? Gyuki chuckles while Kurama just huffs.

Back in reality, Hinata looks at the man in surprise. "Lord Killer B, they sent you on this mission?"

Bee laughs. "Ah, well, they were gonna send a different team but when I heard my man Naruto was gonna be here, I volunteered my guys." He looks around. "So ya really already done, huh?"

"Yeah… things kinda happened."

"We got the gist of what happened back in town, but what happened here?"

Naruto and Hinata brief Bee on what went on as he hauls the criminals on his back, with Bee agreeing it best for everyone to come be present when taking out the deceased from their makeshift graves. They make their way to Kusatsu to add them to the pile of cultists captured in the assault by Naruto's Shadow Clones.

On arriving back, they're met by Bee's students, people Naruto was familiar with.

A dark-skinned man with short white hair, a grey hoodie under his flack jacket and a sword strapped to his back. A dark-skinned woman with long red hair wearing a shirt with ripped sleeves. And a fair-skinned woman with a short blonde bob-cut. Omoi, Karui, and Samui.

"It's you guys!"

Omoi takes out a lollipop. "Hey, Naruto. You don't waste time, do you?"

Karui sighs. "So we just ended up being on clean-up duty."

Samui nods to them. "You handled it well. Kept civilians safe and kept damage to a minimum. Good job. Is that the girl?"

"Uhh thanks." Naruto wasn't exactly expecting a compliment, least of all from this person. He looks down to Kotori in his arms. "Yeah, this is her. She was drained of her chakra but is alive."

Hinata looks at the girl worried. "We should get her healed if we can. I can ease her pain but I'm no medic. Has the envoy from the Hidden Hot Waters arrived, as well?"

Samui looks to the side. "In a way."

Two shinobi walk towards the group. The man has short brown hair and what appear to be lizard scales cover his right sleeve, wearing the usual shinobi gear and a dark grey flack jacket. The woman has long black hair covering one eye and a colourful haori draped over her flack jacket. Rather than pants, she wears a robe-like attire that leaves one leg exposed. She's also accompanied by a black panther that occasionally rubs its head against her.

However, rather than the three slanted lines that represent the Hidden Hot Waters, these shinobi's forehead protectors display a triangle with two smaller triangles behind it on either side.

Hinata recognizes the symbol. "The Hidden Mountain Village?"

The man approaches first. "Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga of the Hidden Leaf, correct?" He looks at the girl and motions Naruto to place her down. "I can help." His hand grows with green chakra, a medical ninja, and begins working on healing her.

"Yeah and who're you guys? You're not Hot Water ninja." Naruto questions.

The woman smirks and licks her lips. "Smart and cute." Naruto blushes and Hinata huffs ever so slightly.

"I'm Takeshi Tokage and these are Kuga Tsumetogi and Noraneko and yes, we're Hidden Mountain here on behalf of the Hidden Hot Waters."

Kuga blows a kiss as a greeting.

Takeshi looks over the girl with his abilities. "She's lost most of her chakra. I can transfer some of my own but it'll still take time for her to recover."

"Can you use mine? I have a lot." Naruto asks. "Granny Chiyo used my chakra when she healed Gaara."

Takeshi nods. "I can." Naruto places his hands on Kotori and Takeshi places his own over. The medic could immediately feel the increase in effectiveness. "Wow, this is incredible. With your chakra's quality, her own reserves should be replenished within just a couple of days."

Hinata looks on. She's not familiar with Tokage, but the Tsumetogi clan is a name she'd heard from Kiba and his sister Hana. Big cat tamers and old rivals of the Inuzuka clan, although they haven't actually fought against each other since the Second Great War.

She hadn't had contact with the Hidden Mountain but their Land of Forests is to the north of the Land of Fire; it's separated from the Land of Steam by the Land of Rice Paddies (or Land of Sound, depending on who you ask). The village and nation had recently started making their presence known as a strong contender. They're in talks of absorbing the Land of Rice Paddies who were left virtually defenseless following Orochimaru's death and the dissolving of the Hidden Sound Village. If they're also in talks with the Hidden Hot Waters…

"You're a far way from home." Hinata probes.

Kuga responds as Takeshi focuses on healing. "We are. The Land of Forests and the Hidden Mountain have offered our services in solving problematic issues and helping progress through these new times. It's a transition period for all of us, after all."

Samui joins in her usual calm tone. "And where are the Land of Steam criminals to be kept?"

"In the Land of Forests, of course. It's part of our deal to take care of… undesirable elements."

Hinata muses. " _So it's true. The Land of Forests wants to absorb not one, but two of the smaller nations. Are they trying to rival the Five Great Nations?"_

Kuga walks over and drapes her arms over the younger woman, leaning in far too close for comfort. Her lips are incredibly close to her ear. "You shouldn't look so worried, honey. You'll ruin your gorgeous face and your boyfriend might jump in the arms of an older woman who knows how to care for her body."

Hinata breaks free and smiles politely to keep up appearances. "Thank you for your concern, we're doing quite well."

Kuga giggles as Hinata goes to check up on Kotori. Karui looks like she's about to pounce. This woman jumped on Omoi the moment they met up and now she's moved onto Naruto?

Omoi sighs. "You can't get worked up. What if you snap at her and she gets angry, and then you fight in the Land of Fire and cause even more destruction and ruin the peac-" Karui interrupts him with a smack on the head.

During this short break, Naruto and Hinata give everyone else the full story as they did with Bee.

"We got the done with the greeting but we gotta decide about the ones that took a beating,

We caught way more than we thought,

And there's so many deceased, we gotta give their families some peace,

We can't carry them all together, wo we gotta think of something better.

Ya fools, ya tools."

"Sir Bee is right." Takeshi stands up having finished his healing. "The criminals we can manage but if there're multiple deceased, as well…"

Naruto thinks for a moment and chimes in. "I think I can do something about that. Got the idea on the way here, actually. But I gotta get Kotori to safety first."

The Leaf duo finds Shina and Takeo again. They think about what to do for now since the orphanage is partially destroyed. Thankfully just because they're mayorless, that doesn't mean they're without guidance. Shina is well respected among the community and the mayor's office gives aid. Kotori is left to the care of the hospital while Shina and Takeo are taken to the old school building which is to serve as a temporary orphanage.

In the following days, the kids are returned and it takes some time for them to understand what happened and why Kotori is ill, but they take to their new environment well, all things considered. The shinobi from the three villages make their way to the cavern system and begin digging out the deceased. The process is greatly sped up by having dozens of Naruto Clones.

* * *

While this is all happening, Naruto and Bee find themselves in their inner space where all Tailed Beasts reside.

Kurama begins. **_"Gyuki. The one we fought and managed escaped. He summoned the Kappa."_**

Gyuki looks and sounds surprised. **_"What?! How? What happened?"_**

**_"We fought it off, pushed it back to its prison."_ **

"Oyeah, you mentioned something about that, what is it?"

"Yo, I ain't ever heard of no Kappa, either."

Gyuki speaks up. **" _The Kappa is one of many creatures that once roamed the lands. Honestly we don't remember when they appeared, or even if they were here before or after us. But they're strong. Incredibly so. Maybe even moreso than us."_**

 _ **"Speak for yourself."** _Kurama sounds offended.

**_"Either way, they're strong. Our power could be harnessed while others formed pacts and summoning contracts. But these guys… They're just trouble."_ **

"But someone did beat them, right? Kurama said the big gate is a prison, so it's like a seal?"

**_"They were sealed long ago by a group of very powerful shinobi. They would later come to be known as the Uzumaki clan. Kurama looks down to his jinchurki. Your ancestors."_ **

Bee looks even more shocked than Naruto. "Wha? Your folks did that? That's whack."

"The.. Uzumaki? Then that guy's an Uzumaki, too?"

**_"Or was taught by one, or learned of their secrets somehow. Either way, that's dangerous knowledge. We need to be careful, Naruto. You too, Gyuki, Bee."_ **

Bee looks up to his Tailed Beast. "Aw, he cares. Just like you said." Gyuki chuckles.

**_"Shut up! That's all, now get back to work."_ **

* * *

At the end of a two-day effort, all of them are dug out and their bodies lined up according to village. Hidden Leaf, Hidden Hot Water, Hidden Cloud, and several of unknown origin who are to be taken to the Leaf for identification.

"Alright, Naru-bro, what's your ideo?" Bee forces a rhyme.

"It's this." Naruto bites his finger to draw blood and smears it on his palm. Weaving the seals, he slams his palm on the ground. " **Ninja Art Summoning"** Three toads, the size of horses, appear in the chamber. "I'm sorry to ask you guys, but can you take these guys to the Leaf, Cloud, and Hot Water villages?"

The toads sniff the air and recoil. "Ew, you seriously asking this? You have any idea what a bad taste this'll leave?"

"I know, and I'm sorry. I promise I'll repay you back when I go to Myoboku!"

The toads sigh. "Fine, fine. But only because it's you! And we won't let you forget that promise."

"Don't worry. I never go back on my word, you know that." Naruto gives a thumbs up.

Before the toads can do anything, Samui stops them. "We should probably attach notes, as well, so our guards aren't freaked out by the giant toads appearing in front of them. And to explain the situation."

They do exactly that and toads take the scrolls, each marked as coming from a member of the village, and open up their maws to swallow the bodies. They disappear in a puff of smoke once done.

The same is done to the prisoners, them being unconscious so they don't try to escape.

During these days, assistance from the Hidden Leaf comes. Shinobi to help Kusatsu get back to normal and to help rebuild the minor damages. For that, the expert builder Yamato was sent.

"You've barely started your mission and you're already causing this much trouble." He sighs.

"Sorry, Captain Yamato." Naruto brings his hand together in an apology.

The other shinobi stay for a bit more, making sure to help where they can but eventually time comes for them to bid their farewells.

"We're grateful for everything. Not only did you catch them all by yourselves but you also transported them for us." Takeshi gives an embarrassed smile. "We'll be certain to repay you."

"In _any_ way you want." Kuga smiles and Takeshi has to drag her away.

Samui is as matter-of-factly as usual. "We should return, as well. You have matters to attend to, Lord Bee."

Omoi looks nervous. "Yeah, if we take too long, Lord Raikage will get mad."

"... Aren't you going to go on one of your tangents?"

"No, that's pretty much the worst case scenario."

Samui gives a very light smile and shakes her head. "Shall we?" She turns to Naruto and Hinata.

"Um, actually, we were hoping to stay until at least Kotori wakes. I want to make sure she's feeling well."

"Sorry, Octopops, I know you came to get us to the Cloud, but…" Naruto looks up to a window, behind which Kotori is recovering.

"Ey, I getcha. Gotta do what ya gotta do, no sweat. Lil girl went through a lot so make sure she doesn't fret." Bee offers a fistbump which is quickly returned.

"I'll stay, too." Omoi speaks up. "We did promise to escort them back to the Cloud and I don't have any missions to do so I can be their guide."

"Thank you." Hinata gives him a light bow.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not too good with the formalities."

Karui taps him on the shoulder. "Have fun third wheeling."

And so they all take their leave and head to their homes.

* * *

Somewhere by a lake, Mizushi sits on the ground with a still weakened Itsu lying beside him. She's breathing with difficulty, but still breathing. He occasionally brings in some water to keep her hydrated.

Eventually she wakes up. Seeing who she's with, she tries to dart up and away but only gets so far before she crumbles back to the ground.

"You… fuck. Sold me out to Fudou. Mizushi." She hisses his real name.

"Ah, so you found out. Interesting. But I can assure you I did no such thing. However he found out, he did so on his own. If I had sold you out, I wouldn't have taken you away from him."

She looks around. "Where are we? What happened?"

"Fudou tried to use your chakra and the girl's but couldn't do it before the Nine Tails arrived. So I took you out of there. I presume Fudou has been defeated and everyone involved has either been killed or apprehended."

"Why… would you save me?" Speaking is exhausting but she's also trying to distract from the pain.

"Because it seemed a waste to leave you there. I've a proposition for you. You don't have to agree, but we would very much appreciate it if you do."

"Who's 'we'?"

Right on cue, three figures emerge from the trees. Well, to be precise- 2 people and 1 large feline. Takeshi, Kuga, and Noraneko.

"There you are. Is this the one you mentioned, Mizushi?"

He nods in confirmation.

"And what of this Fudou?"

Mizushi raises his hand and seals appear on his palm. A ball of dripping chakra exits from the markings. "He's right here." The ball is absorbed into the seals and they disappear.

Itsu's eyes widen at the display, but she decides there're other priorities right now. She finally notices the headbands. "Hidden Mountain? So you're…" She turns to Mizushi.

"Not a rogue, no." He answers before a question is even posed. The masked man stands up and for the first time takes off his mask, revealing a… rather ordinary face. Itsu kinda imagined him ugly or disfigured or something, but he doesn't look too bad.

"I was sent to gauge the value of the Jashinists and whether their Curse can be useful to us. Instead, I believe I found something much more valuable." He looks at Itsu and smiles. "How about it? I presume you're tired of running as a rogue so why not come with us. Although for that we would need to see what you actually look like." He smiles knowingly.

"How did you know?"

"Your movements. You looked unused to your body. You kept moving as you were used to being bigger than you actually are."

She looks at him pointedly, and the two other people gathered. At the very least, they have her outnumbered and he knows her secret. She stands up and focuses her chakra. Her eyes turns a blood red with black irises.

Kuga raises a brow. "The Ketsuryugan?"

Takeshi smirks. "You're of the Chinoike clan."

"Was. It's a dead clan now."

Her veins pop up and become visible from under her skin. Her muscles and skin bulge and her body expands and tightens. She becomes taller and more musclebound. Her long hair that reaches to her back falls off and becomes shoulder length.

Mizushi smiles. "Much better." He extends a hand to her. "The other nations have failed numerous times and now they claim to want peace. We don't believe they can achieve that, but we can. Or rather, our leader can. You don't have a place to belong, and many in the Hidden Mountain are like you- lost and with nowhere to go."

She hesitates for a moment. Someone she doesn't know and have been keeping their identities secret from each other for weeks, people from a Hidden Village spouting crazy nonsense. There're all the red flags here. Going with them can be dangerous and a waste of time. But… is that worse than life so far? No home, no friends, no nothing. Just existing. This would give her a purpose and if they try to use her, she has the means to fight back.

She takes his hand. "Itsu Chinoike."

"Mizushi Osui."

* * *

Kotori groggily wakes up, twisting in bed and grunting in pain. She opens her eyes to see some of the orphans sleeping on and around her bed. She rubs her eyelid and looks to the window, where Naruto is sitting.

He turns to her and smiles. "Good morning. How you feeling?" He hops off the window and goes next to her.

"Uhh fine?" Her eyes widen, remembering one of her last memories before being taken, and she jolts up. "Takeo!"

Naruto places a hand on her shoulder, leading her to lie down again. "Is fine. And Miss Shina, and all the kids."

From Kotori's yell, some of the kids wake up and see their sister well again. A loud series of noises later, practically everyone has gathered in her room to check up on her. She's caught up on what happened, by multiple kids, most of them talking over each other.

Shina brings her some food and water and she eats and drinks like she hadn't eaten in 2 days. Which she hadn't so it's understandable. She spends some time acclimating and getting back to her feet.

She tries to get up quicker than she should, as kids usually do but is immediately reprimanded for it. The doctor ushers all the kids out so Kotori can actually get some rest. Hinata proves a great help with her ability to manipulate others' chakra to speed up the recovery.

Naruto watches on as Kotori's treatment from the back and gives a thumbs up. "You're gonna be right as rain in no time!"

Kotori returns the thumbs up and the sudden motion causes her to wince in pain.

"No agitating the patient!" The doctor calls out to Naruto without even looking back.

"Uhh sorry, I'll wait outside." He heads for the door but before he fully exits, he stage-whispers to Kotori. "You got this."

He closes the door and turns around to head outside only to be met by Omoi standing right next to him. He completely missed him. Naruto jumps back, startled.

"Omoi, you're here?"

The Cloud ninja nods. "Heard the kid's doing good again."

"Ah, yeah. She seems a bit better. Sorry for having you wait here all this time."

Omoi shrugs. "I don't mind. It's a nice place, good hot springs. And I was curious."

"About what?" Naruto cocks his head.

"About the guy who became Lord Bee's friend and even earned Lord A's trust. You're a guy who stands by his beliefs and by people. Even though you got a mission to get to, you stayed back here to check up on the girl even though you got no connection to her."

"I mean, it wouldn't do right to just leave her, right? She went through a lot and she needed someone to help her. And she wants to be a ninja, so we gotta show her what ninja do, right?" He gives his usual grin to which Omoi can't help but smile. "And besides, she kinda reminded me of myself growing up and learning ninjutsu against all odds, so I wanted to make sure she doesn't give up on her dreams."

"And you're not the type to give up, are you?"

"Nope!"

* * *

A couple days later, Kotori is feeling much better and is able to move around as if nothing had ever happened. She's out in the school yard with Naruto and Hinata. It's not the same as the orphanage's playground but it works just fine. Naruto is showing her some of the basics in fighting, after Hinata had finished showing her more chakra control.

Kotori plops down on the ground, exhausted. "This is way tougher than the stuff Takeo shows me."

"Being a shinobi isn't easy, that's for sure. Takeo's taijutsu is awesome he's a good guard but being a shinobi needs a lot more."

"Isn't there a faster way to do this?" Kotori is panting heavily.

He sits down, as well, next to Hinata. "There're no shortcuts to your dreams. For anything that's worth going for, you gotta fight and fight hard. Right?" He turns to his girlfriend.

"I know that all too well." She places a hand over his and leans her head on his shoulder. "To not give up and never go back on your word. That's a good Ninja Way to have."

Kotori sticks out her tongue. "Bleh. Do the lessons need you to be all mushy? Are ninja supposed to be mushy?"

"Hey, you were all mushy with the other kids! And Miss Shina! And Takeo!"

"That and this is different!"

A voice comes from behind. "It's not exactly a shortcut but maybe I can help." Omoi comes in front of Kotori.

"Mr. Omoi?"

"That's… too formal." He sits down in front of her. "Over at the Hidden Cloud we live way up in the mountaintops so the air's different than down here so it's harder to breath."

"How can it be hard to breathe?" She tilts her head.

Omoi simply continues. "We've developed some breathing techniques to help with fatigue. Maybe it'll help you, too."

Kotori looks excited at learning something new.

Hinata looks worried. "Should you be revealing those techniques? If Kotori becomes a ninja, she'd be a Hidden Leaf. Teaching her another village's secret techniques might be a bit much."

Omoi shrugs. "Maybe. It's entirely possible that all Leaf shinobi will learn this technique, and then figure out our other techniques and learn everything we know and do it better until we're basically the same nation and we just become the Hidden Lea-"

Kotori pats him on the leg which seems to snap him out of his delusions. He clears his throat.

"Either way, it shouldn't matter. If we're to be allies, then consider it the first step. You listen in, too, if you want."

Omoi shows her breathing method to maximise her lung capacity and be able to last longer before being exhausted. She doesn't really get it at first, I mean, it's just breathing, right? How hard can it be. But with being told for how long to inhale, how long to hold, how long to exhale. Who knew there was a method to all this? She could've done without being told to do this for half an hour every day. Half an hour a day is too much of anything, even eating.

Hinata opens her eyes having finished the exercise. "It truly does make a difference. Thank you, Omoi." She bows from her seated position.

"No, like I said…" Maybe asking her to not be so formal is asking too much.

The three look over to Naruro who's been awfully quiet. Hinata expected him to have started complaining 5 minutes in, as usual. Instead, he's sitting completely motionless with orange semi-circles at the corner of his eyes.

"Umm, Naruto? Why did you go into Sage Mode?"

He snaps his now-yellow eyes open and looks around, only now noticing the heightened senses that come with his abilities. "Oh, sorry, I got so absorbed into it, I kinda subconsciously started gathering natural energy." He rubs the back of his head.

Kotori looks amazed. "Is that what happens when you breathe? Will I get yellow eyes like that?"

"No, that's just something Naruto can do."

By this point, the group is called in by Miss Shina. It was already time for lunch, which means that these three would have to leave after. Kotori's trying her best not to look saddened that they couldn't spend more time.

Lunch came and went with the usual chaos expected of the kids. Naruto couldn't help but smile at the energy they all exhibit. You can feel the warmth and love. Kotori has a good place to call home. It's nice here.

And with lunch done, the time came to say goodbye.

Kotori hugged Naruto and Hinata, and even Omoi. "I promise I'll keep training! Every day! I won't stop until I make it to the Hidden Leaf and become a ninja! I'll breathe properly, and I'll train my chakra, and I'll keep training my taijutsu." With each word, her eyes become more and more glassy as tears begin to fall. She sniffs and wipes her eyes.

Naruto and Hinata squat down and give her a big hug.

Hinata brushes the girl's hair. "I can't wait to see you in the Leaf and greet you as a fellow shinobi."

Naruto wipes away her tears with his thumb and grins. "And then we can go on missions together and kick butt!"

Kotori gives a firm nod.

They stand up and turn to Shina and Takeo. "Thank you for your hospitality. I apologize for the inconvenience and that we couldn't help sooner."

"No, don't be sorry. You did so much for us. If it wasn't for you, there's no telling how far those people would have gone. You saved us from a much worse fate." Shina bows to them. "Thank you."

The three wave them off as they head off into the distance.

Just barely out of Kusatsu, Omoi is leading the two on the couple day trip to the Hidden Cloud. Naruto is uncharacteristically quiet and Hinata notices this.

A part of him can't stop wondering about Kotori and her dream of being a ninja. Will she be able to pull it off? Will she have the time and opportunity to actually train? Was the few instructions they gave her about chakra going to be enough?

He stops on a tree branch. Noticing, Hinata and Omoi stop, as well.

He bawls up his fists and breaths in. "Hinata, I-"

She Flickers next to him and places a hand on his cheek. "I know. I feel the same way."

He smiles and looks at their guide. "Omoi, I'm sorry. We might take a bit longer to get to the Hidden Cloud."

Omoi sighs. "Yeah, that's fine."

* * *

Kotori is looking out her window from her bed, curled up with her sheets over her head. A part of her wonders if she should've asked them to stay longer. She knew they're busy people and have thing to do but maybe they would've agreed to it. She only had a little time to learn some things from there which are helpful, sure, but she was having fun actually learning.

She forms the Bird seal. Breathing in, this time she knows what she's doing. She knows what her chakra is doing and where it's going so she pays closer attention. A feather appears but this time she doesn't get overly excited or even look at it. Just keep focusing. Focusing. Focusing.

Until she's interrupted by the door opening. It's one of the orphans, a bit younger than Kotori, and she looks excited. The feather falls again. She grumbles.

"What's got you hyper, Aki?" She turns to the girl at the door.

"Kotori, Kotori! Miss Shina said to go to her office!"

"What for?" She raises a brow but doesn't get an answer.

The girl just giggles and runs off. "She's waiting!" her voice can be heard from the other end of the corridor. Kid's fast.

Kotori gets off the bed, puts on a pair of shoes and heads to the temporary office. It was once the school principals so it fits that Miss Shina would use. It's also in the centre so she has equal access to every spot in the school.

She knocks on the door "Coming in." and enter. Inside, she sees Miss Shina at her desk, Takeo standing next to her, and… Naruto and Hinata? She looks between them confused. "Didn't you go?"

"Ah, well, we did, but…" Naruto looks at Hinata and the two share a glance. "We talked about it and asked Miss Shina if it'd be okay. If you want, we'd like to adopt you and-"

Without even hearing the rest of the sentence, she runs directly at them and gives them a big hug.

Her face buried in their clothes, she begins crying.

They both squat down and give her a proper hug as Shina and Takeo look on, tears welling up in their eyes.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NAME MEANINGS
> 
> Mizushi Osui (大水 ミズシ, Ōsui Mizushi) = Mizushi - 'water child'. Osui - 'great water'
> 
> Kuga Tsumetogi (ツメとぎ クーガ, Tsumetogi Kūga) = Kuga - 'cougar'. Tsumetogi - 'claw sharpening' or 'scratching post'.
> 
> Noraneko (ノラ猫) = 'alley cat'
> 
> Takeshi Tokage (トカゲ タケシ, Tokage Takeshi) = Takeshi - 'warrior'. Tokage - 'lizard'.


	6. Hidden Cloud Training I

**CLOUD TRAINING I**

* * *

Travelling from Kusatsu to the Hidden Cloud would've normally taken about 3 days if going at a leisurely pace and they wouldn't have been in a hurry, anyway. That time estimate is increased significantly when you have an untrained kid with you.

Sure, Kotori was carried for most of it but she still needed breaks more often than a child from the Academy would and she wasn't used to the speeds of shinobi.

She's clutching onto Naruto's back for dear life. She was fascinated at first at just how fast they can go but she'd never experienced it before and doubted if she even could.

"You okay back there?" Naruto calls out.

Kotori manages to get through a muffled noise that sounds like an agreement. She'd tried speaking earlier and got a fly in her throat; not making that mistake again. However, even if she said she's fine, she's still clearly shaken up and holding onto Naruto even harder than before.

He lands on the ground and Hinata and Omoi follow.

"Let's rest, okay?"

Hinata agrees right away, but Omoi first looks to the direction the Hidden Cloud's at. It's fairly close, just a few more hours. Ideally they'd still travel but given the circumstances… He agrees to the break, as well, and begins setting up a temporary camp.

Kotori's clutches onto Naruto's clothes even more. "We can keep going. I'm fine." She hides her face in his back. "I'm fine."

She knew they've stopped much more often than they'd need to. They were constantly checking up on her and if there was even the slightest hint of hesitation, they'd stop. She tried putting on a brave face when she was tired but they always saw through her. And she did get tired even if she wasn't the one actually running. Travelling at such speeds put a strain on her mind and she'd get headaches occasionally, as well as get motion sickness.

Hinata places a hand on her head. "You are, and we'll make sure you continue to be fine. We'll take as many breaks as needed."

Kotori doesn't seem convinced. A part of her is worrying that she's already being a burden, that her new mom and dad, young as they are, are already regretting their decision.

Omoi speaks up from his crouched position, going through his pack. "Besides, a Cell is meant to look after each other. If one member is feeling off, we help them get back on their feet and continue when we're all at 100%." He stands up and walks over to Kotori, handing her a water container. "Think of that as your first ninja lesson. You take care of your team."

That seems to do it for Kotori as she nods and climbs off Naruto's back and takes the water.

Kotori's excited to look at her surroundings. They went through the Land of Hot Waters and stopped to rest at an onsen there, through the Land of Frost with its much colder climate but beautiful scenery. They even have slopes you can slide on! And now they're in the Land of Lightning which is filled with mountains that reach the skies, even higher than the ones in the Land of Frost. Omoi was right when he said breathing in his home is more difficult.

Once Kotori is a bit further away and exploring, Hinata approaches Omoi.

"I apologize for the breaks. I know you originally didn't agree to taking so long, but…"

"You really don't need to worry. Besides, it basically confirmed everything I thought about Naruto. I got to see what kind of guy he is. And he's affected you a lot, looks like."

Hinata blushes and looks away. "Wha-, no, I-" She regains her composure and smiles. "No, I _was_ greatly influenced by him."

"As were a lot of people. Even Cloud shinobi."

Hinata's expression gives away a somewhat worried appearance which Omoi brushes off and the group goes back to setting up camp.

Much to his dismay, Hinata uses this break as an opportunity once again to quiz him on some of the Jounin books Iruka-sensei had given Naruto. Kotori found it funny that Naruto also needed to study but it also put her at ease to see that even they have things to learn. Although it also made her nervous that studying doesn't seem to have an end. It was a conflicting feeling. To Naruto's even greater dismay, Omoi decided to join in on the study session to pass time.

They drag it out until Kotori looks in a more cheerful mood and call the break/study session over and continue to the Hidden Cloud. Their next break would be in civilization.

* * *

Kotori stares up in awe. This has got to be the biggest mountain she's seen so far and there are mountaintops as far as she can see. Buildings line the sides and tops, lights shining inside to illuminate the night sky, each connected to the closest top by suspended bridges. She feels dizzy just looking at it from afar.

Naruto has the same expression. Hinata seems a bit more quiet than normal, looking contemplating at the Hidden Village.

"Welcome to the Hidden Cloud." Omoi addresses the three and leads them to the gate.

The guards stop them for a check-up and Omoi hands the proper identification.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuga, and…" The guard look at the girl who's now walking on her own. "We weren't informed of a child."

"I'll vouch for her and talk with Lord Raikage about it. Mark me down as liable for her actions until we have something more official."

The guards do just that and let them in.

Kotori gets a better look at her first Hidden Village, the hustle and bustle is much greater than anything she'd seen so far. Shinobi scatter left and right, some going about their daily lives, others flying from rooftop to rooftop. It's a sight to behold.

The main street is filled with stores, shops, and stalls. Either trying to sell things to those just entering or selling things one might need before heading out. Basic provisions like foods and pouches or some more niche items like scrolls or specialty kits.

Kotori darts from one store to another; an expression of joy on her face. Naruto and Hinata look on smiling.

After some time of sightseeing without even leaving the main streets leading in and out of the Hidden Cloud, some shinobi begin recognizing the blonde.

"Is that… Uzumaki?"

"Ey, it's Naruto!"  
"Naruto, over here!"  
"Hey, you remember me?"

Suddenly a crowd swarms around him and Hinata, making the couple nervous at the attention.

Kotori looks confused at everyone recognizing them, even though they both said they'd never been here.

Omoi stands next to her. "You know much about the Ninja War that just ended?"

"A little. Some ninja came to town to fix it and said things."

"Well, Naruto was the one to help out big time. He's a big hero."

They never mentioned anything about that, even when they talked about their abilities and history. He was seriously such an amazing ninja and yet didn't brag about it. She makes her way to the crowd to try and squeeze through, using her smaller size to her advantage. The people are a bit busy fawning over Naruto and talking amongst each other.

Once inside the circle, she makes her way for Hinata who's standing behind Naruto and looks oddly nervous. Kotori grabs her hand which makes the Hyuga cry out. She pulls her hand and twists around, panic in her eyes. Kotori looks scared that she did something wrong.

"Hinata?" Naruto turns to her and sees her state. He puts an arm around her and Kotori and Flickers away.

Everyone looks confused as Omoi just sighs. "Oh, no… Where'd they run off to? They don't know their way around. What if they go where they're not supposed to and get in trouble and Naruto uses the Nine Tails to fight but the cliffs can't support his weight and so they all fall down and cause a rockslide die and I'll have a dead kid and ruined village on my record!" He immediately rushes to find where they went.

* * *

On a nearby rooftop, Naruto lands with the two and Hinata presses her back against a wall, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hinata, are you okay?" He moves to place a hand on her shoulder but she shrinks back.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." Kotori looks down apologetic.

Hinata breaks from her state to kneel down. "No, you didn't do anything wrong, I promise. I was just startled, is all. It's all good." She stands up on her feet and smiles, but it's clear to Naruto it's not genuine. He's seen this many times before- a way to mask pain. "Shall we get back?" She ushers Kotori to get going and goes to walk past Naruto to return to the streets.

He stops her. "I know this probably isn't my place to say, but I don't want any more regrets. I was a fool for so many years and I keep thinking how things would've been different if I noticed sooner. I don't wanna look back and think that again."

Hinata presses her head against his shoulder. "I know. I don't want that, either. I'm fine, just the elevation got to me, is all." She wraps her arms around him and whispers so only he can hear. "I promise we'll talk, just not in front of her."

"Alright, on one condition." He embraces her and places a hand on the back of her head. "Stay by my side."

"Always."

Kotori's not certain what happened but she's glad Hinata seems well. Naruto places a hand on the girl's head and she joins the hug.

Omoi's voice comes from the side. "I'm glad you're having a family bonding moment. Ready to get going?"

"Ah, yeah, sorry 'bout that."

* * *

The group find themselves in front of the largest building on the highest mountain top, Naruto and Hinata standing by Kotori's side and holding her hands. Omoi leads them inside the Raikage's office up several floors as he and Naruto are greeted by the people inside as old friends.

Standing in front of the massive doors, Omoi knocks and excuses himself.

"Lord Raikage, we've arrived."

Inside, they're met by a rather large room, much larger than the Hokage's office. The centre space is mostly empty, with the usual shelves filled with books and scrolls. One side is a dedicated gym area with weights, dumbbells, and a punching bag.

Directly in front of the door is a desk just in front of the window, not unlike the Hokage's office, although the walls are entirely windows. Behind the desk, sat not on a chair but a sofa, is the intimidating figure of the Raikage, lifting a dumbbell with one hand while signing paperwork with another.

Next to him is a man with swept blonde hair and sitting on a couch nearby is a man with bushy white hair. Naruto recognizes them from when he first met the Raikage but he doesn't remember them by their names, C and Darui. Bee, Samui, and Karui are also present.

"Yo, there ya are!" Bee calls out from the punching bag.

"Hey!" Naruto returns the greeting while Hinata offers a polite bow.

A looks up from his work and places the weight down. "Took you long enough. What was the hold up?"

"About that…" Omoi looks back at the young girl standing next to Hinata.

The members of Team Bee recognize her, although she was unconscious when they saw her and when they left. Darui and C look between each other, not certain why the Leaf shinobi are accompanied by a kid.

A walks around his desk to greet the guests. He towers over all of them, easily the largest man Kotori has ever seen. She hides behind Hinata out of base instinct.

"Well, are you going to introduce yourself?" A crosses his arms.

"Boss, you could be a bit more welcoming to a kid." Darui drawls from his place on the couch.

She's looking at the ground. "I'm… uhh… Kotori." Even though she said little, her voice became quieter as she kept talking.

Naruto places a hand on her head, causing her to look up to see him smiling. "Hey, come on, that's on your name now, is it?"

She looks up and stiffens a little bit but she's looking the large man in the eyes. "I'm Kotori Uzumaki, sir."

"Uzumaki?" Everyone in the room, except for Omoi, looks surprised.

A looks between Naruto and Hinata. "You two work fast."

Hinata blushes profusely. Naruto explains the situation. "No, it's not like that! She's from Kusatsu Town where everything happened. We kinda… ended up adopting her."

"Now there's a surprise." Samui's way of expressing surprise is very slightly raising her brows.

Hinata makes a case. "I'm aware this is not what was agreed upon by our villages and this may very well be a breech in our agreement, but I beg you to allow her temporary residence while we conduct our mission."

"Lord Raikage, I'm willing to take responsibility for their stay in the Cloud if you allow it."

"You, Omoi?" A raises a brow.

"Brother, ya gotta let the kid stay!" Bee rushes over to plead.

A hits his brother over the head. "You fool, I haven't even said anything! She can stay. But she's your responsibility." He looks at her adoptive parents who nod in full agreement. "We'll need to figure out what to do while you're on missions for the Hidden Cloud." A walks back to his sofa and sits down, resting his arm on the backrest.

C addresses the three. "You won't be going on missions right away, so… we'll think of something. Use this time to get accustomed to the Hidden Cloud and the people. Shinobi from the Hidden Sand have already arrived and are to go on a mission tomorrow. As for your accommodation…" He begins flipping through a clipboard.

Bee jumps in front of him and looks to A and Naruto. "Don't worry 'bout that 'cause I'm callin' dibs, you guys can chill out at my crib! Right?"

"Yeah, we can stay with Octopops if that's cool!" Naruto is quick to join in his elder's excitement.

C looks to his Raikage. "I mean, if they wish to…"

A nods. "I don't see why not. Alright-"

"With all due respect, Lord Raikage." Samui stops them before they go on. "I'm not sure if Lord Bee's home is the best place for a young girl." That point makes everyone reconsider the idea. Kids are impressionable and Killer Bee is… himself. "My home has enough space. Atsui and I will house them for their stay."

"Aw, but staying with Bee's gonna be fun! Kotori'll be fine there!" Naruto protests. Not that he minds Samui, although he doesn't know her, but he's made a good friend with Bee.

"No, Samui's right. We almost made a huge blunder." A scratches his chin with his one hand. Everybody nods sagely in agreement.

"You, too, Brother?" Bee looks dejected.

"Alright, Samui, show them the way."

She nods and excuses herself, heading outside and urging the Leaf ninja to follow her.

* * *

Samui's house is quite large considering only her and her brother live here now. A room for them each, one large guest room and one small guest room; perfect for her guests. They've already been shown around where they'll be staying and have left their possessions, now free to sit back and relax, drinking refreshments.

"My brother's out on a mission, so he won't be back for a while."

Naruto leans back in his chair. "You sure it's fine to have us here without asking 'im, though?"

Samui shrugs. "He won't mind. If anything, he'd enjoy the company."

"If you say so…"

"You must be tired from your journey. I'll prepare the bath for Hinata and Kotori. You can use it after that, Naruto." She stands up and stretches her back.

Kotori jumps up, excited for a bath, and practically drags Hinata off her chair.

Hinata giggles at the display. "Alright, alright. Don't rush."

"Have fun, you three. And don't use up all the hot water!"

As Samui passes by Naruto, she glances sideways to him. "No peeking."

"Of course I wouldn't!" He huffs.

* * *

With the baths finished, Hinata and Kotori are sitting in the main room while Samui went to do some house work before sleep.

Once Naruto comes out of the bath, Kotori begins yawning excessively. She managed to fight off sleep just long enough for him to join them.

She's walked to her new room where whe crawls in bed, already half-asleep and tucks in and mumbles. "Night, Mom, Dad."

Naruto and Hinata blush and look at each other, quickly looking away. They both reach out to hold the other's hand and intertwine their fingers. Neither expected to have a kid in their lives this soon but… maybe it won't be so bad. They share a quick kiss and quietly leave the room.

The two make their way on the porch to look at the Cloud's night sky. They're holding hands and Hinata is resting her head on his shoulder. After some minutes of enjoying the scenery, Naruto speaks up.

"You wanna talk about what happened earlier? You were nervous the entire time we were walking through. Could feel it when I was holding your hand."

Hinata squeezes his hand."That's…" She closes her eyes. "Bad memories, I suppose. Father was opposed to me coming here exactly for this."

"Memories?"

"Yes. Remember what Neji said about his father's death? Me being kidnapped which resulted in Uncle Hizashi sacrificing himself for the sake of the Hyuga clan. It was all instigated by the Hidden Cloud. He was afraid something might happen if I came here. I managed to convince him otherwise, but deep down maybe I'm still afraid."

Naruto looks to the ground. "Right. I completely forgot about that. I'm so sorry, Hinata, I never even thought… But things are different now. Many have seen how wrong it all was and are doing better. Even the Raikage. They're not gonna try anything, and even if someone does, we'll kick their ass! Together. I'll be by your side."

She springs up to kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you, Naruto."

The clang of a tray is heard from the room behind them. They turn around to see Samui placing cups of tea.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't help but overhear." Hinata looks embarrassed over her insecurities being heard by one of the people she's insecure from. "I know this may not mean a lot but the Hidden Cloud has changed. It's true we've tried to kidnap many kekkei genkai users but things are different. At the very least, one thing you can be certain of is that Lord Bee values Naruto greatly, and Lord Raikage wouldn't go against his brother."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make things awkward. I know things have changed, I simply need my subconscious to become aware of that. It's partly why I insisted on coming along. Before, other villages would have killed to have a Hyuga on their territory and now we can move freely."

"It's fine. It's a work in progress for us all. I'll take my leave for the night. Sleep well." Samui takes her tea and leaves.

Naruto and Hinata stay for a bit longer before they head to their room. Their… single-bed room. Hinata feels her temperature rise, sharing a bed with Naruto. They haven't been a couple for that long and are still getting used to the fact. So far they've stayed in the same room but slept in separate beds. But now…

Naruto places a hand over hers and brings his head to touch hers. Her blush intensifies.

"Is it weird? I dunno if I can explain, I just… feel really happy right now."

Hearing his words put her at ease, at least for now, and she grasps his hand, as well. She turns to face him, their heads still touching, and they quickly fall asleep.


	7. Hidden Cloud Training II

**CLOUD TRAINING II**

The following morning, Kotori is the last to wake up, the adults having let her rest since these first few days will be dedicated to getting acclimated. There's no rush yet.

"Morning, Kotori!" Naruto chimes in from his spot.

"Did you sleep well?" Hinata brushes the girl's hair as she takes a seat.

The girl manages a nod and a yawn. "Slept a bit weird, but good."

"You're still unused to being in a foreign place. You'll grow accustomed." Samui offers her a portion of breakfast.

"I'm sorry, Kotori. We went ahead and dragged you along with us, but it'll be some time before we actually go home. We'll spend a lot of time in lands foreign even to us."

"That's fine! I get to see a whole bunch of places I've only read about! It's like a dream come true!" She turns to Hinata with a wide grin.

Naruto gives a sagely nod. "See, I told you there's nothing to worry about. And she'll have a head start over the other kids when she joins the Academy cause she'll have seen all this cool stuff already."

Samui has already eaten her breakfast and begins cleaning away the plates. "At noon, you'll need to stop by the Raikage's office so they can decide how to proceed with your future missions given your... new circumstances."

Once breakfast is finished, the group begins their morning ritual. A morning ritual that was mostly started to help Kotori get used to training.

The first part consists of Kotori practicing the breathing exercise that Omoi showed her. He was right, breathing here is really more difficult, heavier. Much easier to get tired and it feels like she's doing less here than back in Kusatsu. She's sitting in the seiza style with her eyes closed, doing her best to focus.

Focusing proves a bit more of a challenge given that Naruto and Hinata are sparring nearby. The two are taking the time to practice their respective Frog Kata and Gentle Fist techniques. Naruto hasn't really used it as much as he could and having an expert taijutsu user is great practice, and Hinata is able to refine her own form against a fighting style that's surprisingly good at countering the Gentle Fist.

Once the 30 minutes pass, Kotori opens her eyes to see Samui sitting near her.

"That breathing technique is of the Hidden Cloud. Where did you learn it?" Samui looks with her usual stoic expression.

Kotori looks slightly nervous under her gaze. "Uh, Mr. Omoi taught me. Was he not supposed to?"

"Well, it's a technique passed along Cloud shinobi, it's not conventional to teach it to outsiders."

She springs to her feet. "Did he do a bad thing? Is he gonna be in trouble?"

"Ah, no, I'm sure it's… fine?" Even though she offered her home, she's not exactly the best at dealing with kids. She's barely able to deal with Karui and Omoi. "If he taught you, then it's fine."

The next bit of training involves Kotori learning more basic taijutsu from Naruto and Hinata. They're not teaching her their own forms as they're more advanced but they're not needed for now. She still has much of the basics left to learn.

After that, Kotori trains her chakra and summons as many feathers as she can. She was told to stop once she feels tired. She didn't get the full details, but apparently chakra exhaustion isn't fun.

* * *

At noon, the trio are in the Raikage's office for their scheduled meeting. A himself is busy elsewhere, but C is present to speak to them. They're sitting at a side table, rather than the main desk.

Hinata brings up a question that's been on their mind. "This may be sudden, but with Kotori being with us, would it be possible for our missions to be arranged so that only one of us is away from the village, while the other one remains within or close to it?"

"Yeah, we figure she should have someone nearby so she's not left alone in a new place."

C scratches his head. "Well, we were originally planning on having you on one team to better acclimate to the change, and then have you doing separate missions. But now… I suppose we'll have to move things further along."

Hinata offers C a polite bow. "I apologize for the inconvenience. I realize our request makes things more difficult for you."

"No, no, it's quite alright. I enjoy having to change my carefully laid out plans in the last second. The stress really builds character." C's sarcasm is clear to… not everyone.

Naruto breathes a sigh of relief. "Oh, man, that's good to hear. I was worried you were gonna be upset."

C simply glares at him. "As for you." He turns to Kotori. "Are you going to be fine on your own while they're on missions?"

"Umm I think so? I can still train on my own or sightsee." Kotori swings her legs on the chair.

"Then how about this. Instead of being off on your own or wondering what to do, and since the entire purpose of this little endeavour is to keep the good relations, why not join our Academy as a temporary transfer?"

Kotori's face lights up. "Can I?"

Hinata doesn't look as excited. "Are you certain that's fine? She'd be joining late and she's behind on shinobi her age. Training starts early, even earlier for kids of large clans. Would that be alright?"

"C'mon, she'll be fine!" Naruto chimes in. "She's gotta learn one way or another, right? This'll be perfect for her."

"I worry how the other kids will react to her." She looks down to the girl who still seems eager.

"I'll be fine, I promise. I'm gonna become a ninja no matter what and I'm not gonna let anyone stop me! That just means I'll have to try even harder!" Kotori is reminded of what Naruto told her when they first met- about how people put him down and how he refused to give up. If she's going to be their daughter, she can't do any less.

"See, she's already set on not giving up. She's our student, all right!" Naruto laughs.

Kotori's face stiffens at the word 'student' but she brushes it off and looks back at C. This does not go unnoticed by Hinata.

"It would be the more general classes, of course, but she'll be able to learn something and speed up her progress."

"Okay, if you're sure. How do we go about signing her up?"

C makes his way to the desk to take an application. He also uses this opportunity to inform Naruto and Hinata on available tasks that might require their help and their skills would prove invaluable. Missions that would benefit from Hinata's ability to search over vast distances with her Byakugan or place where more manpower is needed with Naruto's Multi Shadow Clones.

"These are the details, along with your teams for the assignments. You're set to head out in 3 days' time, which is when Kotori can begin classes."

The three of them excuse themselves and exit the office.

* * *

The three days come and go pretty fast. They continue teaching Kotori and help her get accustomed to her new life. Samui also takes time out of her days to show them around and they even spend some time with Karui and Omoi, and Bee. The latter is only met if Bee has adult supervision. Raikage's orders.

One the assigned day, Naruto and Hinata take her to the Academy and introduce themselves to the teacher who takes over and leads her to class. The two head for their respective missions; Hinata's taking her away from the Hidden Cloud and wouldn't be back for a couple days, while Naruto will be nearby.

Stood in front of the class, Kotori didn't expect to be this nervous. She has loads of experience being around kids, both older and younger, but these guys? They're ninja. They can probably already do all these amazing things that she can't even imagine and here she is barely a week into training. That puts a whole different level of pressure. Sure, she told Hinata she'd be fine but that was like 60% bravado. Maybe 70%.

"Alright, students, for the next 2 months you'll have a new classmate, an exchange from the Land of Fire. Please do your best to get along."

Kotori gives a rather stiff bow. "I'm Kotori Uzumaki. It's nice to meet you all."

She's shown to her seat at the end of a large desk. They're wide enough to fit 4 kids and the space just next to her is empty.

Her neighbour is a boy with light brown skin and short silver dreaded hair. "I'm Hayai. Groovy to meet you."

"You,... too?"

The nearby kids greet her, while some of the others are very visible and audibly murmuring about her, while others… don't seem to care one way or another. She kind of expected all these reactions. The teacher quickly puts an end to all the talking and gossiping and begins his class about the nature of chakra, things Naruto and Hinata had told her some of the things but not everything.

Everything is nice and quiet and is much more like an ordinary class than she expected. The teacher explains, the kids write and occasionally answer questions. Once the class ends, however, the quiet ends.

Most of the class swarm her desk and begin asking questions.

"Where are you from?"  
"What can you do?"

"Are you really Uzumaki?"

"Are you with the hero Naruto?"

She's quickly overwhelmed until the considerate soul, Hayai, sitting next to her interrupts the crowd. "Let her talk a little... Geez…"

They eagerly await her answers.

"I'm uhh from Kusatsu Town in the Land of Fire, and yeah... I'm here with Naruto Uzumaki. He adopted me back home and now we're travelling."

"Wow, so lucky!"

"Is he adopting any more?"

"So, wait, you're his daughter?"

"Uhh yeah, kinda. But I guess I'm more of a student than a daughter." She gives a nervous laugh and tries not to dampen the mood. What Naruto said made things clear. To begin with, Naruto and Hinata are actually younger than Takeo and he's a big brother-figure, not a parent figure. There's no way they'd see her as an actual daughter when they're so young.

"So what jutsu can you use?"

She hesitates for a bit but decides showing something, however meager, would be better than keeping quiet. Otherwise they might question why she's even here. So she forms her trusty Bird seal and summons two feathers which hover around her. She's learned to control them a bit but it's still a work in progress.

She's met with the oohs and aahs of those around.

From the corner of her eye she can see some of her new classmates grow annoyed at the ruckus and leave the room. It was expected she wouldn't be entirely welcome but she hopes to gain their favour during her stay.

At this point she sees and feels a presence sit in the empty seat next to her. She turns to see a girl who was sitting in the back corner of the room but for some reason came to sit here. She has dark skin and wavy black hair that reaches just past her cheeks and hides eyes.

She's a rather large girl, easily over a head taller than the second tallest in the class, which means she towers over Kotori and has some muscle even at her young age. It kind of reminds her of how Naruto and the Raikage look standing next to each other. The tall girl picks up the feather and wordlessly hands it to Kotori, her face expressionless.

Kotori takes the feather back. "Ah, thanks. But they kinda disappear after a bit so it's alright."

The other kids begin pulling Kotori away. "You don't have to talk to her, Kotori. Come on, let's go outside."

Kotori looks confused and kind of goes with the flow. The tall girl doesn't really give much of a reaction one way or another.

"Why are we going out? Wasn't that kinda rude?" Kotori looks back to the room, concerned.

"That's just Takai. She's weird so don't worry about her." The unnamed character dismisses the named character.

The break goes somewhat well, she's shown the outside by her classmates. Some are sparring, others are playing more normal games, others are playing those same games but using ninjutsu. It's pretty hectic. The kids here seem nice so far, although her mind keeps wandering back to thinking about what the ordeal with that Takai girl was.

When they return back to the classroom, Takai is still sitting at Kotori's desk and has even moved her own books. Kotori excuses herself and sits on her seat again, now between Hayai and Takai. Did she want to become friends? She hasn't actually said anything, just vaguely looked at Kotori and acknowledged her presence and desire to sit down, but that's it.

The remainder of the day goes on a bit more awkwardly but overall fine and interesting. Ninja Academy is more similar to normal school than Kotori originally thought it'd be. She thought there'd be more flames being thrown or people flying or something. But it's a lot of studying and _some_ practical things which she didn't take part in being new to it all.

* * *

At the end of the first day of school, everyone is in a rush to get home. They go to the entrance, find their families, say their goodbyes, and head their separate ways. Just as she's about to make her way on her own, she sees some of them gathered in a small crowd with Naruto in the middle of it. When he sees Kotori, he excuses himself and goes to her.

"How was it?"

She rushes over to hug him. "It was great! I met a lot of cool kids and learned a lot of things."

Naruto laughs. "Good to hear. I never did pay a lot of attention when I was in the Academy."

The two begin walking to Samui's home and talking about the day when Kotori spots someone leaving the Academy after the rest. Takai is heading out but no one's here to meet her. Kotori looks back to her for a few moments and sees a bird land next to the taller girl.

It's a large, predatory bird. Sharp beak, pointed talons, thick black plumage with whte around the neck and tip of the wings and no feathers on the head, oddly enough. Kotori had never seen a condor before so doesn't recognize the bird.

Her initial reaction was to call out for her new classmate to watch out, but the bird seemed familiar with the girl. In fact, she immediately takes out something from her bag and gives it to the condor to eat. She pets it on its bald head and for the first time all day, Kotori sees her smile. The girl begins walking down the street and the raptor follows after her, waddling awkwardly.

Naruto sees where Kotori's attention is focused. "Classmate?"

Kotori nods. "Yeah. But she didn't really say anything and keeps to herself. The others don't seem to like her."

"Did she do something bad?"

"I don't think so… No one said anything and she didn't do much today."

"Hmm. And what do you think?"

"I don't think anyone should be excluded, but if she doesn't want to talk…" Kotori had seen cases like hers at the orphanage. Kids who'd come in and not talk for various reasons- some due to trauma, some due to fear, some because they didn't like their new arrangement. Miss Shina and the others always knew what to do or say and they always told the other kids not to bring attention to it and let them open up on their own time. She really shouldn't press a stranger.

"Y'know, Hinata was like that, too."

"What? She was?" Hinata has been nothing short of graceful and beautiful. She can't picture her being nervous at all.

"Yeah. Shy, reserved, kept to herself. She'd been through a lot so she didn't really open up to anyone. Looking back on it, I know I could've done something for her. I was just too dumb a kid to figure her out and actually be her friend." He looks down a bit embarrassed and gives a nervous laugh. "But you don't have to do anything you don't want to, alright?"

"I know. But I still wanna try to be her friend."

"That's the spirit." He ruffles her hair and they continue walking.

"But didn't you say you were gonna be home later?" It now dawns on her that Naruto's supposed to be on a mission.

"Ah, actually, I still am but I sent a Shadow Clone over to take you home."

"So you're not really Da-..." She stops her sentence. "You're not real?"

"I mean, kinda. But when my Shadow Clones go away, the real me remembers everything they said and did. We're the same person, there's just a lot of us."

"Huh. Does it get confusing, having weird memories?"

"Nah, not really. Besides, these memories are worth it." He gives her a huge grin.

A big reason he sent over a Clone is because he remembered how he felt all those years of being the only one to not have anyone waiting for him when the day finished and he didn't want Kotori to ever feel like that. He had to step up his game as it's no longer just about him. Shikamaru warned him of the day he'd be the one teaching and not the one being taught. Those days just came earlier than either expected.


	8. Hidden Cloud Training III

**CLOUD TRAINING III**

Atsui's been looking forward to coming home for a while now. There's been a good number of missions lately, clean-up duty after the war ended, so he's been run pretty ragged. Now it's time for a break that he hopes to spend with his dear sister, his only remaining family.

He tries unlocking the door but the key doesn't fit. Maybe Samui left a key on the inside. That means she's home. Before he can grab the door handle, the door opens and... a little girl is standing in front of him?

"I'm sorry, you have the wrong domicile." and she closes the door.

Atsui remains still, blinking. He looks around to make sure he has the wrong place. Those are the same houses he remembers his neighbours having. He looks over the house in front of him. Yep, that's his and Samui's house.

He hears giggling inside.

"Hey!" He swings the door open only to see the girl laughing, and so is… his sister? She can laugh?

Samui looks to the girl. "I told you he'd react funny."

"Samui… since when do you have a sense of humour? And who's this kid?"

Now two other people enter the room. He looks around confused but is quickly brought up to speed and is very open to the idea of having guests over. He and Naruto seem to hit it off and quickly become friends in the following days. Although he bolts the moment studying is brought up. In hindsight, Samui regrets putting these two hotheads under the same roof.

* * *

The next week went on as normal. Kotori continued going to the Academy, the other kids continued to show interest in her and especially in her adoptive father.

Some of the kids that previously swarmed her stayed away since Takai seems to have permanently moved seats, and for some reason Kotori wanted to stay where she is.

Conversations with Takai went… quickly. When she gave answers in class, they were short and concise and didn't open much to follow-ups. Her other neighbour, Hayai, didn't seem to care that Takai's sitting on their desk so at least he seems chill, and he's more talkative so that helped.

Observing practice classes, Hayai is incredibly fast even among his peers. He fights using a very erratic taijutsu, relying mostly on kicks and sweeps. He rarely has both feet on the ground at the same time and even then, he has his hands on the ground more often than his feet. Takai on the other hand is among the slower kids in terms of speed but her reflexes are sharp. She relies more on heavy, precise punches and they are very heavy.

By the end of the week, she'd come somewhat close with the boy mostly because he didn't seem judgemental and didn't mind being around Takai. Others began distancing themselves from their desk because of the quieter girl but Kotori didn't care. She'd made up her mind.

The last day of the first week, she and Naruto wait outside for Takai. As every night, she leaves the Academy and goes home accompanied by a condor. This time, Kotori chases after them.

The condor turns around and spreads its massive wings, screeching.

Kotori stops, putting her hands in front of her. "Uhh hello?"

Takai pets it on the head. "It's okay, Moukinmaru." She looks questioningly to Kotori but then sees the man behind her classmate and recognizes him. Her eyes widen. "Ah…"

"Hey there. I'm Naruto. You're Kotori's classmate, right? Nice to meet you."

Takai looks down and bows. "I'm… Takai, sir."

"No need for the sir part. Let's all just get along."

Kotori approaches the bird of prey, very slowly extending a hand. "Is he friendly?"

Takai pauses for a moment as if trying to find her words. "He can be." She looks to the condor and with a motion of her hands seems to communicate with him.

The condor Moukinmaru calms down and allows Kotori to pet his feathers. "So soft. They're nothing like my feathers."

"Your feathers are nice." Takai's face shows little when she says that but the odd compliment makes Kotori smile widely. This is more than she's really gotten out of her in a week.

"You go home alone, right? Do you want us to walk with you?" Naruto steps closer and pets the condor, too.

She nods lightly. "Okay."

Naruto sends a Shadow Clone to go back to Samui's house to warn the siblings and Hinata that they might take a while to actually return. Takai takes them to her home, about half an hour from the Academy, on the edge of the village and on the highest point of one of the hills. This is a part of the Hidden Cloud they hadn't really explored.

Getting closer, they hear screeching from the skies above. More condors. MoukInmaru spreads his wings and takes flight to join his brethren.

"Woah, there's more of them!" Both Naruto and Kotori look around excitedly.

"My family raises Lightning Condors. They're endangered."

Kotori turns to her. "So your family's home?"

"Still working. They come home later."

Naruto's relieved a bit. He was worried she might be an orphan, too, but it eases his mind that she does have a family.

Takai's home is fairly small and cozy, and currently empty. She invites the two guests inside and prepares some tea for them as they sit down in the kitchen. The house has a large balcony and seems to have been built around comfortably housing the Lightning Condors and taking care of them.

"Sorry it's small." Takai sits down.

"No, not at all! It's really cool! I really didn't think I'd see so many birds here." Kotori looks excitedly out the windows where some of them can be seen circling.

After some moments of awkwards silence and tea-drinking, Takai speaks up again. "Why did you want to come?"

"Umm cause I wanted to be friends! Isn't that why you sat down next to me?" Kotori grins.

"But…" Before Takai can continue, Kotori stands up and goes to her, taking her hand to pull her up.

"Hey, let's go see the condors! I wanna see more of them!"

Takai's eyes may be hidden, but her smile is visible even if he tries to hide it by looking down. She gets up and the two go outside on the balcony where multiple cages are lined up. They serve as birdhouses that condors can use when they need them, mostly when they're sick or injured and can't reach their nests up in the hills.

Takai whistles and some of the condors descend, perching on the railing or on the roof or on the balcony flooring.

Naruto decides to sit back and just observe.

Kotori pets some more condors. "Their feathers are really pretty and bigger than the ones I make."

"What are your feathers, anyway?"

"Huh?" Kotori just looks at her confused.

"What bird are they from?"

"I… don't know? They're just... 'feathers'. I don't think it's from any bird." She forms the seal and conjures one. Brown with some black markings.

Takai brushes the condor near her as if looking for something. One feather falls off easily and she holds it in front of Kotori. "Can you make any feather? Like this one?"

Kotori takes the feather and looks at it closely. "I've… never tried…"

She molds her chakra again, this time specifically thinking of condors and their feathers, and in front of her appears exactly what she imagined. A much larger feather than what she's made until now, black in colouring with a white strip. Kotori's face changes from confused to gleeful in a second. Takai seems to be smiling, as well.

"It worked! It actually worked!" Kotori jumps with joy and uses her chakra to move the feather around. She's progressed from just summoning to being able to move it around somewhat freely, within a certain range. She's progressed quite a bit in so little time.

She molds her chakra again and summons more feathers, some smaller but still taking after the condors around.

"Figured something out?" Naruto calls out, leaning on the balcony door.

"Yeah, look! I can make different feathers!"

"Hey, that's cool! Can they do different stuff?"

"Umm I don't think so. But it's progress! I learned something new about my jutsu!"

Kotori makes her feathers dance around the condors who screech in return and look very curiously at the display. She tries to make more but reaches her limit to how many she can control at once.

The front door opens and closes. "Takai, we're home!" A male voice calls. The girl goes to greet the people coming home. A man walks in first, light skinned with short dark hair, followed by a larger dark-skinned woman with long curly hair. She looks like a grown-up version of Takai.

"Oh dear, guests? There's a surprise."

Naruto walks over with his usual smile and extends a hand. "Hi, I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"And I'm Kotori Uzumaki! Takai's friend from the Academy" His daughter chimes in from the back.

The woman returns the handshake, visible confusion on her face. "I'm Futoi."

The man shakes hands with Naruto, as well. "And I'm Yukai. I'm sorry, did you say 'Naruto Uzumaki', the hero of the war?"

He still can't get used to being recognized and being called a hero. "Yeah, that's me."

Takai's parents have a look of shock before they immediately bow profusely. "It's an honour to have you in our home. I'm so sorry for coming so late, we had a long shift at the hospital."

"There's really no need for that."

Futoi and Yukai go dress out of their work clothes into something fitting for guests. They make sure to prepare more drinks and even offer them to stay for dinner. Naruto hesitates as he'd kind of like to go back but Kotori seems to be having fun here with Takai, so he graciously accepts.

They have dinner and chat for the following couple hours, the girls quickly going out to play more with the condors.

Futoi looks at her daughter with teary eyes. "I'm so glad she's made a friend. I never would've thought it'd be someone from another village." Her husband places a hand over hers, his eyes also teary.

"Kotori said she wanted to be her friend since day one. Apparently she doesn't have many?"

"Ah, no." Yukai looks embarrassed. "When she hit her growth spurt, other kids began mocking her, so she closed herself off. We've tried to be here for her, but…"

"I went through something similar, myself, but I had someone who didn't care about that." Futoi looks to Yukai lovingly. "It means so much for her to finally bring someone over. Your sister is really kind."

"Ah, she's not my sister. She's actually kind of my daughter."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just assumed… You just don't look old enough to be her father."

"I'm not. I met her along the way to the Hidden Cloud. She got caught up in something nasty and my girlfriend and I ended up adopting her, even though we're not that much older. I'm really more like a teacher to her than anything."

"I see. But it's fortunate she has a family to call her own now. Even if you're still young, you're taking care of her, right? And you're officially her father."

"I suppose. But she's been through a lot. She really wanted to be a shinobi so I can give her that, at least. I don't think she sees me as a dad and I don't wanna overstep or force her into anything. As long as she's happy, then I'm fine just being her teacher." He's holding his cup with both hands, swirling it mindlessly. "Sorry, I'm just rambling."

Futoi and Yukai share a look before turning their attention back to Naruto. "I don't know about your situation, but it sounds like you care about her a lot and are looking out for her. That's pretty much what a parent is supposed to do, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

In her tired, sleepy state, she did call him and Hinata "dad" and "mom" but that's probably more due to exhaustion. It's been over 2 weeks by this point and she hasn't actually referred to them by any title, not even sensei so even he's not sure how to confront Kotori and talk to her about it. Maybe she doesn't want to or it'll push her away. Then again, just earlier this evening he told Kotori to act when she sees someone in need, so isn't he going against his own words by ignoring the issue?

"I think we should get going. We've stayed long enough. If it's fine with you and Takai, could Kotori come visit again?"

"Yes, of course! Any friend of Takai's is always welcome!"

"It'd be our pleasure. Before you go, just one question. Do you by chance know Shizune and Sakura Haruno of the Hidden Leaf?"

"Of course I know them. Sakura and me were in the Academy together and on the same Genin team. And Shizune's a good friend. How do you know them?"

"The thing is, we're both Medical ninja and were part of the Support Division during the Fourth War, we worked under them. I just wanted to ask, if you see them again, to wish them well. I doubt they'd remember us, though."

"Don't worry, I will."

With that, Naruto and Kotori take their leave, with Takai looking much more energetic than before.

What none of them knew, however, is that an additional condor chick had suddenly appeared during Kotori's experimentation with her jutsu. As the chicks go into the nest, the mother looks confused at the increased count. She prunes her little birds but one of them disappears in a puff of feathers which vanish into thin air once they hit the ground. The caster has moved too far from their jutsu to keep it active.

* * *

They get home a bit late to see Hinata sleeping on the living room couch, apparently having been waiting for them. Naruto lifts her princess style and takes her to their room, as Kotori goes to hers.

* * *

Takai's character improved considerably as she and Kotori became closer. She became more active and more open, although some of the other kids just became more annoyed with her because of it. Her not caring about them hasn't changed, though, so she continued to ignore them. That annoys them even more. It's a vicious cycle.

"Hey!" A boy calls out to Kotori during break, when she's hanging out with Takai. "Listen, if you actually wanna stay here then ditch her and come with us. You're gonna be the lowest of the low if you stick with her. I'm Kitsui Yotuski of the Yotsuki clan which was one of the founding clans, so I can really help you a lot if I'm in the mood." His voice has a certain pitch to it that makes his voice annoying to listen to even if he wasn't as stuck up as he is.

"Yeah, so don't get on his bad side!" One of two boys standing behind Kitsui calls out.

"I don't really get the whole clan thing so I'm really fine where I am." Kotori doesn't even fully turn to look at the boy.

Kitsui's eye twitches and he draws closer, two other boys practically glued to his back. "You Leaf… Listen, if you're in the Hidden Cloud, you do as we say, got it? Our home, our rules."

Takai stands and places herself between him and Kotori. Kitsui grits his teeth and throws a punch with an overly dramatic yell, eyes closed. Takai doesn't move. Maybe she knows she can take the punch and not really feel it, or maybe she knows that the punch is going to be stopped.

Speaking of which, the punch is stopped. Kitsui opens his eyes to see his fist stopped by Hayai's palm.

"Man, that's not groovy at all." Hayai takes his hand off of his classmate's and shakes it like he was hurt by the punch.

Kitsui steps back. Hayai isn't a member of a prominent clan, but he's among the top of their class. In a straight out fight, Kitsui knows he'd lose.

Kotori also makes her way next to Takai. "Is this how your Hidden Cloud does things? If that's how it's gonna be, I should just tell Naruto Uzumaki we should leave." She purposefully emphasizes his name.

It's a tactic Kotori has had to use a few times. Scaring kids into behaving by dropping the name of someone they'd fear. Seems like Nauto's name is just as effective as Miss Shina's. It doesn't always work but it has a high success rate.

Kitsui's breath stops. For a moment he forgot the girl in front of him is related to the Hero. If word got out he's the reason the relationship with the Hidden Leaf became strained, he'd be a disgrace to his clan.

He clicks his tongue and turns around, his… friends? Followers? Lackeys? joining him in the strategic retreat. "I'll let you off easy this time. Don't expect it to happen again."

Takai quickly turns her head to her new, and only, friend. "You're gonna leave, are you?" she says in a slightly panicked voice.

Kotori looks up and grins, patting her friend on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm here for a while."

Takai smiles, relieved.

Kotori turns to the boy. "Thanks for the save, Hayai."

"Hmm, well it's not like ya needed it. I just didn't wanna let him do whatever he wants, is all."

* * *

Kotori and Takai continued to spend time with the condors, under adult supervision. Being around the condors, seeing them fly, play, chase each other… Kotori's not sure exactly how or why yet but she feels her powers getting under control the more she learns about the birds. She keeps conjuring the larger condor feathers and she definitely is better able to use them than her old, unidentified feathers.

Some of the younger condors have begun chasing her feathers around; they've taken it as a challenge to catch them. The feathers' speed is much greater than before and she's able to direct where they move. Their numbers have also steadily increased.

Kotori giggles with joy. "This is awesome! This is… my jutsu." Her face can barely contain her grin.

"I'm glad they helped. The Lightning Condors are really good birds. I hope I can fly with them some day, with a jutsu." Takai looks up to the adults flying high above her home.

"Wow, fly? Is that even possible? That'd be awesome!"

Takai nods. "Yeah., it would be."

A voice comes from the roof above them. "Lord Tsuchikage can fly. Some Wind Style jutsu can help you fly."

"So... " Kotori looks up. "Why exactly are _you_ here, Hayai?"

Hayai is lying on his side, resting his head on his hand. "Got nothing better to do. And it seemed fun."

Hinata also had her turn to watch over them while Naruto was away on missions, so she got the chance to meet Futoi and Yukai, as well. This time their shift at the hospital ended quicker so they weren't home quite so late. As usual, they were respectful and Hinata acted in the dignified manner she usually does.

Yukai passes their guest a cup of tea. "Thank you for continuously watching over our daughter."

"It's quite alright. Takai is very responsible for her age. We helped her treat some injured condors earlier and she was very proficient. You've taught her well."

The larger woman Futoi seems overjoyed at her words. "Oh I wouldn't go that far. We've tried to do what we can. Really, I think Kotori has had a more positive impact than anything _we've_ done."

"Naruto told me of what you spoke about before. You really made him think long and hard about a lot of things." She giggles. "It's a pleasant sight."

"I'm glad we could. You two are doing a good job with Kotori. Being so young, it must be difficult."

"It's certainly not what I expected of this mission but…" She looks outside to Kotori and Takai playing with the condors. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Hinata turns to the parents. "Are things fine the way they are, though? Kotori says that the other kids…"

Futoi interrupts her. "Aren't an issue. Takai is strong for her age, both in body and spirit. I went through something similar when I was younger so I know- things will definitely change from now on."

A thunderclap rumbles through the evening sky. The air becomes colder. Droplets fall slowly one after another. Futoi and Yukai gather the kids inside and get the condors that need cages settled as the healthy ones fly off to their own nests.

"Looks like rain. We've been getting a lot lately. Might be the rainiest season we've seen yet."

Hinata and Kotori decide now to be the time to head back home, before it starts raining harder. Kotori grabs onto her adoptive mother's back and they Flicker back.

Everyone in the Hidden Cloud is blissfully unaware of the giant being that lurks in the clouds outside of the Hidden Cloud Village, just beyond the range of the sensory unit that guards their home from invaders. Its paws stepping on the clouds themselves, its quadrupede figure is obscured by the storm. Its tail opens its maw and hisses, masked by the thunderous roars.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NAME MEANINGS
> 
> Takai (タカイ) = 'tall' or 'high'
> 
> Futoi (フトイ) = 'thick'
> 
> Yukai (ユカイ) = 'pleasant'
> 
> Hayai (ハヤイ) = 'fast'
> 
> Kitsui Yotsuki (夜月 キツイ, Yotsuki Kitsui) = Kitsui - 'tough'


	9. Hidden Cloud Training IV

**CLOUD TRAINING IV**

It's been a month since arriving in the Hidden Cloud. Naruto and Hinata have gone on numerous missions and have proven their worth tenfold with their abilities and have garnered even greater respect among the Cloud shinobi. They've even gotten to work with the envoys from the other Hidden Villages on larger missions.

Kotori's training has also progressed rapidly in this time. She's gotten good at taijutsu and has been practicing with the rest of her class in sparring matches. She still has a ways to go, but she's able to put up a fight. Having prior training with Takeo really helped build a solid foundation that Naruto and Hinata could use to help her get even better.

She's also started using her feather during target practice. The others use kunai and shuriken, which her training hasn't gotten to, and are decent at it. Hayai excels at it, as he does in most subjects, while Takai hits the bullseye about half the time. Her own feathers are still not fully controllable; most of them run out of chakra before even reaching the target but the ones that manage to reach, hit even if it's not a bullseye.

She summons a whole bunch of them and fires a barrage at the target.

"Kotori, no mass throwing!" The teacher scolds her.

"Sorry, sensei." Her shoulders drop.

One child holds out his hand and looks to the sky expectantly. Before they could question, his classmates feel a droplet fall on their heads or shoulders. "Aww, rain!" They groan in unison. That means indoor classes for the rest of the day.

As expected, the sensei calls off the class and ushers them all inside. In the classroom, the sensei addresses the disgruntled students.

"Alright, I know no one likes the rain but we can do a lot of things inside, too! And we still have that trip outside the Hidden Cloud to look forward to, right?"

"But what if it rains that day, too?" One student whines.

"Yeah, it's been raining sooo much these days!" More join in the complaining.

It takes some time for everyone to settle down.

Kotori looks to the cloudy skies, grumbling.

* * *

Much to the kids' delight, the day of the trip was set to be sunny, meaning their excursion was to continue as scheduled. The goal is to take the kids beyond the village to see a little of their surroundings and learn more about the land their village resides on and learn of its history.

The students and their parents were warned in advance of the paths they'd have to take and prepared proper equipment for climbing and walking through mountains.

Both Naruto and Hinata were present to wish Kotori farewell and see her off on her 4 day school trip.

Hinata's looking over Kotori's bag, making sure she put everything inside. "Warm clothes, water bottles, tent, gear…"

Naruto and Kotori are both eager to go.

"Come on, Hinata, we already counted her things 10 times, we're gonna be late!"

"Yeah, we gotta hurry!"

They make their way for the Academy, where many of the other parents and their children have already gathered. The sensei greets Naruto, Hinata, and Kotori. He takes the bag off the and opens a scroll. He places the bag atop the scroll and forms the necessary seals, after which the bag disappears. Teleportation Scroll. Naruto and Hinata had seen this before plenty of times, but not Kotori.

"Woooow." The young girl doesn't hide her surprise.

Some of the other students laugh at her reaction.

Naruto grumbles. "These kids…"

Kotori pats him on the arm. "It's fine. I don't mind." She notices Hayai and Takai already present and walks over to them.

Naruto and Hinata see Futoi and Yukai there, as well, and go to mingle before the kids set off. They catch up and some other parents join them, mainly to talk to Naruto and Hinata who've only been rising in popularity.

With everyone gathered, the teacher does roll call and gives his final instructions before departing.

* * *

Most of the first day of the trip went by uneventful. The kids were excited to be out of the village to explore their home. Their destination is the Valley of Thunder and Lightning, a large piece of land owned by and approved for the trip by the Yotsuki clan, a fact that Kitsui reminded everyone of as often as he possibly could.

Many of the kids were in awe of Kitsui and followed his every word and his every step.

Some, however, don't care as much.

"So, I don't get it." Hayai is walking on a slightly elevated piece of rock, hopping from stone to stone. Kotori and Takai are walking besides him. Somehow Takai is still at eye level with him, even though he's on higher ground. "If they're your Pops and Mam, why not call them that?"

"It's not that simple." Kotori fiddles with the straps of her bag. "They're so young. They don't need a daughter to get in the way. Not yet, at least. So being their student is good enough." She gives a weak smile.

Hayai intertwines his fingers behind his head. "I dunno. You do you. But if you really want a family, you should have a family." He then mutters under his breath "If my folks were still alive." but he shakes it off.

Takai looks down to Kotori. "I think you should ask them. They're good people."

Kotori mulls it over.

Meanwhile, Kitsui stands near the edge of the cliff and points to the cliffs in the distance. "And that's the Thunderhead Peak. Those two we call The Horns."

Some of the kids are standing behind him, looking wherever he's pointing.

"Kitsui, everyone, step AWAY from the edge! It's dangerous." The sensei calls out, less than half the class actually listening to him and following his orders. "We'll talk over the landscape when we get down and set up camp."

"I know more about the valley than anyone else; my family owns it!" Kitsui brags for probably the 152nd time since they departed on this trip. "And I know its condition better than anyone else, too, so I know it's safe."

The teacher steps in and has everyone step back. He takes Kitsui by the hand and pulls him closer. "We've had a lot of rain lately, so it's likely to be wet and unstable. We'll talk about the valley when we get down."

The kids continue their trek as Kitsui grumbles the entire time over having his authority disrespected. Nearing the middle of the day, he begins acting up again and spouting every bit of knowledge he has about the area, most of it clearly memorized by heart; it sounding like he's reading it from a textbook.

Eventually, he goes to the edge of the cliff again. "Somewhere under here's the Komori Caves." Most of the other kids who follow Kitsui also stop to check.

Kotori stops and tugs on the teacher's flak jacket. "Uhh, sensei?"

Takai and Hayai look on, somewhat indifferent and annoyed, respectively.

He turns around "Kitsui! I won't repeat myself again!"

"Fine! But you better get ready to hear from the Yotsuki clan about this! We're here because my clan allowed it, you know."

One of Kitsui's two main lackeys looks nervous. "Uhh Kitsui, maybe we should listen to sensei."

"Fine, you coward. But don't complain to me when-" As Kitsui begins angrily stomping back, the ground under him cracks.

The cliff splits, creating a rift further and further towards the path. The very edge where Kitsui was standing on breaks. The rocky ground falls, and Kitsui with it. In his panic, he reaches over to his friends, trying to grab onto one of them to get to safety. Everyone steps back and away from the edge.

Kitsui looks on in despair. He's falling. No one's going to save him. He tries to grab onto the ledge as he falls but it's still unstable. It crumbles in his palm. He cries out.

A hand grabs onto him and he looks up to see Takai of all people, holding onto him and trying to pull him up. To no avail, as the ground cracks under her, too, and they both begin falling.

The other kids cry out and the sensei rushes over. He grabs a kunai and a thread, tying the two together. He embeds the kunai into the rock behind him and jumps toward the kids. He should be able to reach them easily enough and then use the kunai to pull everyone back up. A plan that would work, if the rock above was just as unstable as the rock below. The kunai is lodged out and the sensei begins falling, as well. He has no secure footing now.

Before his mind can go over what he can do in this situation, he sees a figure fly past him. Kotori Uzumaki jumps in after her falling classmates. "No! Don't!" He calls out but it's far too late.

Hayai looks on in shock. "Damn it, those two…" He forms a series of hand seals. He's not sure what he can do but he's got to try. He's one of the few in his class who can actually use jutsu.

Once done with the seals, he smacks his chest with his palm as a small shockwave washes over him. " **Lightning Style: Spiking Surge"** His body gives off sparks of sparks of electricity. Visually or in terms of strength, it doesn't even come close to what the Raikage can do, but it works in a similar way. It boosts his reflexes and his sense and he becomes more aware of his surroundings.

He uses this to run down the cliff. With his jutsu, he's able to better spot in time which bits of rock are about to fall off and which ones are more solid. He can use them as stepping stones.

Meanwhile, Takai is still holding onto Kitsui, neither of them sure what's to come.

Kotori looks on, falling just above them. She herself is not sure what to do, either.

" _No… I can't… I don't wanna die. I wanna spend more time with everyone… Mom… Dad…"_ Her breathing heavy, she's scared, as any 7 year old would be. Her mind goes blank.

' _You know what I didn't do? I didn't give up.'_ Naruto's voice rings through her mind. Her mind begins being filled with thoughts and memories. Everyone she's cared about in her short life, everyone she wants to care about in the future.

She remembers all of her training so far. All the combinations of hand signs where she felt the largest spike in her chakra

'Hare' seal.

She can focus her feathers. They can lift things. She's been able to lift small objects with them. She just needs to focus more than she ever has before.

'Dog' seal.

Takai pulls the crying Kitsui closer to herself and wraps her arms around him to act as a cushion. She tries to reach up to Kotori.

'Ox' seal.

The sensei tries to grab onto the cliffside to stop his fall, but it breaks off again and he lands on his shoulder on the cliffside with a loud thud.

'Dragon' seal.

Hayai's already on their level but he still has nothing he can do. All he CAN do is reach the bottom and hope he can help them.

'Bird' seal.

The feathers gather under her. Long black feathers with white strips. However, unlike before, they're not erratic and not appearing one by one. Multiple feathers, lining up in rows, each row over the previous one. Wings. Body. Claws. Beak. A screech echoes through the mountains.

" **NINJA ART AVIARY: LIGHTNING CONDOR"**

Kotori's descent is stopped as she hits the back of a large bird. Two large claws grab onto Takai and Kitsui. Everyone looks on in awe as a condor materialized out of this air to save their falling classmates.

Takai looks up with widened eyes. "Kotori… you…"

Hayai has a similar reaction. "Holy…"

"Ha… I did it… I DID IT!" Kotori is laughing and crying out of a very complex mixture of fear and joy.

The condor slowly hovers to the ground. Kotori's breathing is getting heavier and heavier.

"Kotori, this is… awesome…"

Kotori manages to crack a smile. "Yeah... I'm… pretty… grea-" Her voice trails off as she begins swaying on the back of her condor. The bird falters as she falls off its back. It disappears in a puff of feathers. Its caster- unconscious.

Takai and Kitsui fall on the ground with the larger girl still acting as a shield. The distance and velocity is much less than before but she still falls in a bad way and hisses in pain as her foot already begins aching.

She immediately tries to stand up when she sees Kotori still falling head first. She tries to stand up but her leg doesn't allow it. "KOTORI!"

"I got her." Hayai jumps in the air and snatches her before she can fall on her head. He lands on his feet but the added weight causes him to fall over with Kotori on top of him. He checks her pulse and sees she's still breathing. It's only chakra exhaustion. He lies back, exhausted himself from the rush of emotion. "Now that was groovy." He can't help but laugh despite himself.

* * *

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANY EXCUSES, MY SON NEARLY DIED!" A man's shouts fill the Raikage's office.

It's been 2 days since the incident and the class quickly turned around and came back to the Hidden Cloud due to the unfortunate events. The sensei carried the unconscious Kotori on his back, while some of the other students helped Takai with her leg.

The girls are both in the hospital, with Takai's leg in a cast and Kotori yet to wake up from her chakra exhaustion.

Now, the parents of those involved stand in the office. Kitsui along with his raging parents, Naruto and Hinata, Futoi and Yukai, Hayai and a young-looking man, presumably some kind of family relation.

The teacher is sitting on a chair in front of the Raikage's desk, his back extremely hunched over and his head lowered.

"I sincerely apologize." He says in a quiet voice.

"THERE'S NO WAY THAT'S ENOUGH, YOU HEAR ME?!" The man turns to the Raikage, sat in his sofa as usual. "Lord Raikage, I demand this man be demoted at once for his negligence."

Hinata steps forward. "Please, I'm sure we needn't go that far. It was an accident."

"Yeah, it was Kotori and Takai who actually got hurt so I'm not sure why you're the ones blowing a casket." Naruto backs her up.

"I don't expect Leaf to understand how things work around here." The father glares at them.

The sensei speaks solemnly. "Lord Raikage, I will take full responsibility for what happened."

Yukai's arms are crossed. "It was the Yotsuki clan's responsibility to ensure the Valley was safe for the kids to trek through, wasn't it?"

Futoi speaks up, as well. "And to begin with, from what we were told, it was Kitsui's disregard of orders that lead to everything."

Kitsui shrinks in his seat.

"You…" The angry man grits his teeth. "I expect it from the ignorant Leaf but you. You're saying the fault's on OUR son?"

"Or whoever raised him." Futoi doesn't seem to have any fear of the clan, despite how much they flaunt their name and status.

"WHY, YOU-"

"ENOUGH!" A's booming voice stops everyone in their tracks. "Yotsuki, two things. First, if you raise your voice in my presence again, I'll demote _you_ , instead. Second, if you make demands of me again, I'll strip you of your rank altogether. Are any of my words unclear?"

The Yotsuki parents quickly calm themselves in the presence of the Raikage. "No, sir."

"Good. I've heard all that I need to hear for now and will give a verdict shortly. You're dismissed." He turns to the Academy teacher. "As for you, we still have things to discuss."

"Yes, sir." His voice is still barely a whisper.

Kitsui's mother grabs him by the hand and begins dragging him, huffing.

That's when something clicks in him. He's only 7. He hasn't lived that long and he doesn't have a lot of memories, but even his earliest ones are people pushing or pulling him in a direction they see fit. Always telling him what he needs to do, always telling him what needs to be done. His clan and even his supposed friends all steer him in the direction they see or they want. To represent the clan, to excel at everything.

The only time he's felt safe or that someone cared about him… was when Takai went after him and protected him. A girl he's constantly mocked. The only time he felt like someone didn't see him as a Yotuski was when Kotori leapt after them and literally saved their lives. A girl who isn't even from the village.

He breaks free from his mother.

"No, it's my fault. It's all my fault." He says in a panicked voice and runs out of the room.

"Wha- Kitsui?" Both his parents are surprised by his action and follow after him.

Hayai simply looks on. He looks up to the man with him and they seem to share an understanding glance and a nod. The boy goes outside, too. Walking, not running.

"Naruto, Hinata. Futoi, Yukai." The four turn to the Raikage. "I sincerely apologize for what happened. For our youth to be put at such danger where there should be none is inexcusable."

Futoi and Yukai become flustered. "Lord Raikage, you needn't apologize."

They bow and take their leave.

* * *

Hayai finds Kitsui sitting between some bushes at a park. He's curled up with his head resting on his knees.

"You're sulking. You don't sulk."

"You don't know me."

"Hm." Hayai moves to stand besides his classmate. "You're right, I don't. Whose fault is that?"

Kitsui doesn't say anything. The wind blows, rustling the surrounding trees and bushes. The dark clouds chill the air a bit, sending a shiver down their spines. It's getting colder. Probably rain again.

Kitsui doesn't lift his head. "Why are you better? What am I missing?"

Hayai continues looking on in the distance. "I don't know about better, but… I think the difference is, I want to be a shinobi. You _have_ to be. I look forward to it, but for you, it's just pressure. I guess being in a clan isn't as groovy as everyone makes it out to be."

Hayai begins walking forward. "You coming? Takai should be waking up from her operation?"

* * *

Naruto and Hinata walk into the hospital room where Kotori is staying. Inside, they see Takai lying in bed with a cask around her lifted leg. On the bed next to hers lies an unconscious Kotori, Samui standing guard over her.

"Samui, thank you for staying with her."

The blonde turns around. "Of course. She saved two of our own. It's the least I could do."

They approach the bed. "Has her condition changed at all?"

Samui shakes her head. "The medics said she depleted all of her chakra. It'll take some time to fully heal."

"How weird is it that in a month, she's had her chakra depleted twice now… I hope this doesn't become a habit." Naruto turns to sit by Takai. "You feeling okay?"

She nods "Yeah." and looks to Kotori. "I'm sorry. She's like this because she had to save me."

Naruto ruffles her hair, leaving her eyes clear of hair. "Hey, don't say that. You went in to save a comrade in need. You're basically a hero, y'know." He flashes his signature grin. "Not everyone would go that far but you two did. I'm really glad Kotori has you as a friend. You've really helped her a lot. So thanks."

"Ah, no, I should be thanking her! Because she became my friend, I changed. She saved me, and she saved me again back then." She keeps her gaze focused on Kotori.

"Well, if you feel that strong about it, just keep being her friend, like you have 'til now, alright? Keep being there for each other. That's the whole reason we're here."

The door opens, with Futoi and Yukai entering dressed in their scrubs and carrying all necessary medical equipment. They check up on the two injured girls, continuing to heal their daughter's leg and dealing with Kotori's depleted chakra. As before, Naruto offers to use Kurama's chakra to speed up the healing process.

Futoi kisses her daughter on the forehead. "You'll be standing in no time. Given how serious it could've been otherwise…" She trails off and her thoughts of the alternative seem to be showing on her face as even her daughter recognizes what she's thinking.

Takai holds her hand and presses it against her cheek.

The door opens again to much lighter footsteps entering the room. Hayai and Kitsui make their way, with the former walking to Takai's bed without stopping while the latter remains at the door.

Kitsui's lowered his head, not looking anyone in the eyes and grasping onto his shirt. "I'm sorry." His eyes tear up and he falls to his knees. "I'm sorry."

Futoi frowns and walks over to the boy, kneeling and giving him a much needed hug.

* * *

Kotori's eyes flutter open to the sound of rain hitting the window. When she sees her surroundings, she grumbles. ' _A hospital again.'_ Her mind's still foggy and she struggles to remember exactly what happened. She turns around and sees a sleeping Takai on the bed next to her, her leg lifted up and wrapped in a cask. It takes her a moment to process it but her memories come back to her. She jolts up and hisses in pain when she feels a hand gently touches her shoulder and pulls her back to bed.

"She's fine." Hinata's soft voice puts her slightly more at ease, just knowing she's there helps. "She's just sleeping."

"And Kitsui? What about Kitsui?"

"He's also fine. Honey, you saved them." Hinata cups the girl's face with her hands and presses her forehead to her.

Under the touch of her adoptive mother, she cracks and begins crying. "It was so scary. I was so scared." Her voice is broken in-between sobs.

Hinata fully sits on the bed and embraces Kotori, holding her as tightly as she can. "It's alright now. You're safe."

Something stirs in the bed opposite of hers. Naruto stands up and sees that Kotori is awake and immediately runs over. He sees the mood she's in and doesn't say anything. He sits on the bed on the other side from Hinata and takes the girl's hand in his own, in comfort.

After a couple minutes of silence, they break from their hug and Kotori wipes her eyes with her sleeve, sniffing. Hinata straightens the girl's hair.

Naruto grins. "You really had us worried y'know."

Hinata laughs. "He spent so much time panicking, he's barely left the hospital since you were admitted."

"Wha-, no, I was totally calm! I knew she was gonna be fine so I didn't have to worry!" Naruto is visibly flustered, flailing his hands. Kotori has seen him act goofy but not flustered.

Hinata finds his current state oddly adorable. "Oh, yes, he ran into the hospital screaming 'Where's my daughter?!' " She puts on an exaggerated face and continues laughing. "I've never seen him so worried before."

Kotori's expression becomes downcast and she lowers her gaze, focusing on the sheets. "Am I?" Both Naruto and Hinata give a puzzled look. "Am I your daughter?"

"I mean, yeah, of course you are." Naruto focuses on her. Apparently she's been having the same doubt as he has.

"I'm not young enough to be your kid. You have a future. I don't wanna be a burden. I don't wanna get in your way."

"Oh, Kotori…" Hinata knew of Naruto's concerns of their new situation but she didn't know their girl was keeping such thoughts to herself.

"You're not." Naruto gets off the bed and kneels down, to be at eye level with her. "Y'know, I was an orphan, too." Kotori looks up. He told her he had a rough time of it but he never told her that. "I spent a lot of time wondering what it's like to have a family. It took me a while, but… I finally found out." He smiles to her and to Hinata. "I know I'm still a kid myself and there's still a lot I don't know and I'm pretty immature, but I want us to be a family. I don't know if you see us as parents but I couldn't have imagined having a better daughter." He flashes a grin.

Kotori tears up again, but for different reasons this time.

Hinata speaks up. "I know your situation has changed a lot and it has for us. We still don't know exactly what we're doing but we're trying to do our best. For you, so you can have the best life you can. That's enough for us."

"Can I… can I call you 'mom' and 'dad'?"

"Of course."

She tightly hugs them both and through tears says "Mom. Dad."

Takai smiles from her bed, having woken up a bit ago. The family moment lasts quite long, all of them happy to have each other. When they break off, they see Takai awake.

"I'm glad, Kotori."

She grins to her friend.

Thunder roars outside which startles the girls. The sky has been progressively getting darker and darker as the stormy clouds send down storm after storm. Naruto feels uneasy. He looks outside to see what looks like black fog in the distance. The mountain top in front of it becomes engulfed, and then the one in front of that.

Hinata looks puzzled. "Naruto, that fog is…"

"Getting closer. And fast." He finishes her thought.

A voice echoes inside his head. " _ **Naruto, that's not fog. That's raw chakra! We need to stop it now!"**_

"Hinata, I'm going." He goes to the window and opens it, letting some rain get in but it's the fastest way. He enters his Shroud Mode, his clothes seemingly replaced with orange and black flames. Futoi and Yukai burst into the room to check up on the girls when they stop and stare at Naruto who turns to them "Keep our daughter safe." and he Flickers outside.

It doesn't take him long to reach the end of the village. With Kurama's chakra and his Sage Mode, it barely takes him a couple of leaps to get to where he needs to. He's now face to face with the approaching cloud, a dark and menacing presence that towers over him.

He summons Kurama's form.

" _ **This is something Eight Tails likes to do. I don't like taking ideas from him, but it's our only choice."**_

" _ **How about we double it?"**_ A large shape crashes next to Kurama and Naruto. The horned, eight-tentacled Gyuki stands besides them, wrapping his tails around his body.

"Gyuki! Octopops!"

" _ **Kurama, I'll spin to the right, you spin to the left."**_

The fox does exactly that. " _ **You bastard, throwing around orders. I'm only doing it because that's what I was going to do, anyway, you got that?"**_

" _ **Yeah, yeah, sure."**_

The two Tailed Beasts coil their tails as tightly as they can. Once enough, they spin violently, releasing a massive rush of wind powerful enough to cover an area even greater than the village itself. The dark fog is dispersed and the imminent threat is averted, but some bits of cloud remain, still cackling with electricity. The pressure from their tails was enough to kick up a large amount of dust.

" _ **Gyuki, you feel it, too, right?"**_

" _ **Yeah. After what you told us, I should've known these day-long storms weren't natural."**_

Something growls behind the dust cloud.

"Huh? Feel what?"

"Yeah, what's with this stormy fog, is that why I've been smelling like wet dog?"

" _ **You should be able to feel it, Naruto. The presence in front of us. It's the same as the Kappa. Another one of the Great Beasts sealed away by the Uzumaki."**_

A paw swipes through the air, clearing the dust. In front of the Nine-Tailed Fox and the Eight-Tailed Ox stands a being just as massive and odd.

Its tiger body is lowered and ready to pounce, its monkey-like face screeches, showing off sharp teeth. Its tail coils and twists, the snake head at the end hissing in their direction.

The Nue roars, sending jolts of electricity in every direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE
> 
> Watchers of Boruto definitely know the Nue. I'd conceived the idea of the Great Beasts/Daijuu WAY before Boruto was ever a thing and they added Nue as part of the 'Naruto' world. This Nue and that Nue are not the same.


	10. Hidden Cloud Training V

**CLOUD TRAINING V**

" _ **Let's go!"**_ Kurama immediately leaps in the air and Gyuki charges at the Nue, horns first. Acting simultaneously in a practiced combination.

Kurama opens his jaw and quickly gathers chakra in small black orbs. He fires a barrage of it behind the Nue.

" **Continuous Tailed Beast Bombs"**

The Nue hops forward to dodge them, their strength lessened but still dangerous and enough to create explosions that leave an indent in the ground.

Gyuki's charge has already brought him close and personal with the chimera, his left horn aimed for the creature's chest. " **Bull Rush"** Nue lifts a paw and digs its claws into the Ox' head. The horn doesn't penetrate but the Nue skids back a fair distance before stopping, the rush halted.

Kurama lands behind and swings 3 of his tails to hit the Nue in the back. The snake-tail lashes out and opens its maw wide, wide enough to encompass the 3 tails. It chomps down on all the tails and springs back a bit, stopping the impact.

With the snake tail holding onto Kurama's tails, it grabs onto Gyuki's horn and spins, the Nue spins, sending the two flying in opposite directions, crashing into the landscape.

"Ow, that's a lotta power this thing's got. We better get serious or this'll hurt a lot."

" _ **What does it look like we're trying to do, Bee?"**_ Gyuki uses the thrashed remains of a mountaintop to get back up.

"Hey, if this thing's like that Kappa thing, can't we just shove it back into a gate?"

" _ **In theory we could, except I don't see a Rashomon gate around, do you?"**_

Naruto looks around "Uhh, no?"

Gyuki grunts, the light scratch marks on his forehead healing with rapid regeneration. " _ **Are you saying the Nue's completely free of its seal?"**_

" _ **No, it's still weakened. Not as much as the Kappa, but that one was still barely out of the gate. This one's still bound by the seals even if the gate isn't around, I can feel it. I'm familiar enough with the accursed Uzumaki seals to be sick of them."**_

" _ **Look at you, with your expertise."**_

" _ **Oh, shut it."**_

"Is talking to it not an option?"

" _ **These things can't talk, they're not like us. Look out, it's preparing something."**_

Their conversation is cut short by a tingling sensation in the air. Naruto's hair stands on edge, somehow becoming even more spiky. Sparks fly off at random places, increasing in frequency. The Nue roars and becomes enveloped in electricity, sending large bolts of lightning hurling at both Tailed Beasts. The area is filled with blinding light, almost turning the gloomy sky into a bright, sunny day.

When the light subsides, Kurama and Gyuki are singed but still up. Naruto emerges with changed eyes- a horizontal toad-like slit crossing with Kurama's vertical slit. He gathers chakra in Kurama's hand; a large sphere of pure light blue chakra, surrounded by the piercing whirl of a miniature tornado. He hurls it at the Nue, the shriek somehow increasing as it travels through the air.

" **Sage Art Wind Style: Super Giant Rasenshuriken"**

The Nue jumps and the Rasenshuriken flies under it.

" _ **You missed."**_

"That's 'cause you don't know where I was aiming. Gyuki!"

The Rasenshuriken continues its flight straight to the Eight Tails, who's gathering massive amounts of chakra in a black sphere. Gyuki extends a tentacle and snatches Naruto's jutsu mid-air.

"If you think we're in a sticky situation, then check out this collaboration! Yeeah!"

Ink fills the Rasengan in the middle, turning the blue chakra black as some of it spills out and is added to the Wind nature.

" **Super Giant Ink Rasenshuriken"**

The new jutsu is flung for the Nue which is now in the air and with no easy way to escape. It gathers ball lightning in front of its maw. It's small, it couldn't gather enough chakra in time. It sends the lightning flying at the Rasenshuriken and hits its mark.

The Wind Style jutsu overwhelms the lightning and continues flying but it's trajectory is now off. It detonates besides the Nue although the following explosion still managed to catch it. The resulting hurricane slices and slashes its skin as it roars in pain.

Gyuki finishes gathering chakra and now with the Nue preoccupied, fires at it.

" **Tailed Beast Bomb"**

This time the Nue is unable to dodge or redirect it. It's blasted by the full force of the jutsu, an explosion even larger than the Rasenshuriken shakes the area.

" _ **Kurama! Don't let it rest!"**_

" _ **Already on it!"**_ Kurama's already in the process of gathering his own Tailed Beast Bomb, although he doesn't have a visual on the Nue. Shooting blind won't accomplish anything. But letting it rest won't accomplish anything.

They can already feel it weaving chakra again. The area is once again ionized with lightning and a wave of electricity is sent in all directions, like an expanding ball. Kurama fires the Tailed Beast Bomb but this time the Nue is ready. A lightning bolt roars through the air at great speeds, faster than the electrical wave it sent out just before. It hits the Tailed Beast Bomb and while not enough to negate it, it was enough to alter its course and miss.

"Damn, it still had enough time to use something that powerful?"

The wave of electricity continues forth, breaking whatever landscape it passes over.

Bee and Gyuki take cover in an indent in the ground caused by their earlier crash. "Brace for impact, 'cause we're not getting out intact."

Naruto and Kurama do the same.

This ability is strong and as it washes over them, they find themselves unable to move from the pain. Their entire system is in shock and their muscles are spasming. They're unable to move their bodies as they want.

The Nue uses this opportunity to gather as much chakra as it can and summon more thunderous clouds. It sends powerful bolts of lightning flying in every direction, one headed for the largest hill of the Hidden Cloud. The Raikage's office.

* * *

Inside his office, A's has been directing Chunin and Jounin to ensure the safety of the village and its residents, with the help of his dutiful assistants Darui and C.

"I leave the rest to you two. I'm going out." A turns to walk to the terrace where he has full view of the monstrous battle outside the village.

"Boss, hold on, just leave it to those two." Darui cautions his leader.

"What kind of Raikage would I be if I don't save my village in its time of need?"

C's eyes widen in shock, his sensory skills kicking in. "Lord Raikage, there's something coming our way! A massive amount of chakra, as much as a Tailed Beast Bomb."

The three look outside to see bolt rushing right for them. They all collectively curse and instead of heading for safety, they head out on the terrace.

" **Lightning Style: Lightning Armour"** The Raikage prepares his signature technique to meet the bolt.

" **Storm Style: Laser Circus:"** An orb of shining light materializes in front of Darui.

" **Lightning Style: Ligh-"** Before C can finish weaving his signs, the lightning is stopped.

Blue flames meet and envelop the bolt, slowing its progress significantly. Then, a large quadruped figure jumps from behind and slashes at it, completely dispersing it.

The figure is a familiar one to most everyone in the Hidden Cloud. A feline body made up of blue flames. Black markings flowing within the flames. Two tails swishing back and forth. Matatabi continues to the battlefield and without looking back, calls out to A.

" _ **You protect your village, Raikage. This is our battle."**_

* * *

Kurama and Gyuki shrug off their paralysis and rush for the Nue. Swinging their tails/tentacles, slashing, punching, biting. Each of them gets hits in and neither of them back down.

The Nue grows angrier and angrier as the fight rages on. It keeps sending occasional bursts of lightning. Not as powerful as before, but it's enough to get the Tailed Beasts to back off or slow their attacks.

" _ **Kurama, Gyuki, stay back."**_

A powerful yet calming voice resonates through their shared mental space. They keep their distance from the Nue, but it senses chakra flying its way and jumps back. The vague shape of a black mouse surrounded in blue flames hits the ground, but it splits off on impact and multiple smaller mice fire off and manage to hit it. It screeches in pain.

"Matatabi! You're here, too?"

"Now let's kick its ass and stop the drizzle since its threat is now triple! YEAH!"

" _ **This is my home, as well. I won't allow anyone to tarnish it."**_

" _ **Hah."**_ Kurama scoffs. " _ **Even though you're free, you still choose to be bound by this place? Pitiful."**_

" _ **I owe it to my brother and comrade to remain close and assist him when he needs me. So for him, and for Yugito, I remain. I thought you'd begun to understand that, Kurama. Besides, I don't think the Nue is intimidated by your nine mighty tails, so it's a good thing I was close."**_

Kurama clicks his tongue. " _ **Acting so arrogant. What are going to do with only two tails?"**_

Gyuki takes position next to his sister. " _ **I keep telling you, the number of tails doesn't matter!"**_ He corrects his brother although he knows it's a wasted effort. He instead turns to the Two-Tailed Cat. " _ **Thank you for the assist, Matatabi."**_

Naruto smacks his fist into his palm. "Alright, now with the three of us, there's no way we can lose!"

Matatabi gathers more chakra and spits out another Mouse Fireball. Once again, it splits off into multiple smaller mice. Kurama and Gyuki go for the attack while it's focused on dodging fiery rodents.

Gyuki spits out a cloud of ink, covering most of the Nue in the liquid and blocking its eyes. It thrashes around in pain, and Kurama and Matatabi use this chance to strike. However, their claws are fended off by its own. The snake tail lashes its forked tongue. Right, it has more than one head.

With the monkey head blinded, they focus now on the snake tail. Gyuki brings his eight tentacles to hold onto the Nue's body, preventing it from moving its head or its paws. Matatabi slams the back end with her two tails and the snake recoils in pain. She slams her paw over its head.

Kurama places a foot on the Nue's chest and holds it firmly on the ground.

He gathers chakra in its front paws. Two black spheres grow further and further in size, Wind Style chakra adding whirling blades.

"Matatabi, Gyuki, lend me your chakra."

" _ **Understood."  
**_ " _ **You got it."**_

They place their own paw and hand under Kurama's and add their chakra to the jutsu. One of the spheres gains blue flames around while the other one gathers ink. Both of them enhance the Wind Style.

"Get ready to jump back" He wraps his own nine tails around the Nue's body, head, and tail, keeping it in place as Gyuki and Matatabi begin easing their grips.

" **Sage Art: Tailed Beast Rasenshuriken"**

He swings downward and hits the Nue at point blank range. Gyuki and Matatabi jump back before the resulting explosions can engulf them. Kurama's form becomes lost in the swirling wind, flame, and ink but Naruto manages to jump back in time. His Chakra Shroud is gone, but his Sage Mode allowed him to escape the blast.

The blast is by far the largest so far and sends a gale that can be felt inside the Hidden Cloud.

Once everything quietens and clears, the dust begins to settle. Naruto, Gyuki, and Matatabi are prepared for battle just in case.

The Nue lies still on the ground.

A great gate appears under it, similar to the one that summoned the Kappa but varying slightly in the demonic visage on the gate. It opens up and the Nue is swallowed inside. Gone.

"Did… did we win?"

" _ **It seems that way."**_

Naruto looks around as if to make sure he doesn't sense any more surprises while still in Sage Mode. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Gyuki's form shrinks down for Bee to return to normal. "Alright, now that that's done, let's go back home and celebrate a victory won."

Gyuki calls the others to their mental space, the Tailed Beasts stand in front of each other.

" _ **Matatabi, according to Naruto and Kurama, someone is summoning the Great Beasts out of their gates. They did that with the Kappa, so they probably did that with the Nue. See if you can find if they're still around somewhere."**_

Matatabi nods " _ **On it."**_ and in the physical realm, runs off into the distance, as Naruto and Bee make their way back to the Hidden Cloud.

* * *

Somewhere in a mountainous landscape, Kuga Tsumetogi of the Hidden Mountain Village sits next to a resting panther. She occasionally pets Noraneko who purrs in return.

She holds a writing brush and has an open scroll in front of her. She dips the brush in an inkwell and writes.

" _The Nue was defeated. It was still weakened from the Sealing. Athough even if it wasn't, it had three Tailed Beasts to fight. Hardly a fair fight."_

After a few moments, writing materializes. " _We'll continue working on it, then. Return home, we've preparations to make."_

The writing disappears entirely and Kuga rolls up the scroll. She scritches her panther on the head and stands up, preparing to leave.

* * *

In the Raikage's office, A is sitting on his sofa, elbow on his desk and chin resting on his closed fist. Besides him are his advisors Darui and C. In the room are also 2 Killer Bees, one being very relaxed while the other one standing very militaristic. There are also 2 Narutos, one being his usual goofy self while the other one is sitting with one leg lifted on the chair and possessing very distinct red eyes.

A looks between the 4 of them. "This is weird. Do we _have_ to do it this way?"

One of the Bees speaks up in a voice much more dignified than usual. " _ **This way is faster. It won't take long."**_

C rubs his forehead. "Right. So, these creatures, Kappa and Nue, are… Great Beasts, you called them?"

Kurama responds " _ **That's right. Similar to us Tailed Beasts, they are beings possessing great strength and chakra."**_

" _ **Except even we don't know where they came from. We know they weren't born when Hagoromo split the Ten-Tails and created us. They're separate entities altogether and unlike us, they don't possess reason."**_

Bee speaks with his usual over-gesturing. "And they pack a mean punch, smacked us so hard nearly lost my lunch. If we don't stop 'em their power's gonna surge like a tornado, and we won't be enough with just me and Eight-o."

A leans back in his sofa. "And why have we never heard of them before?"

" _ **Because they were sealed away hundreds of years ago. Any record of them has faded from history, and if any had remained, it most likely vanished when the Hidden Whirlpool Village was destroyed."**_

Darui speaks up from his chair. "Well, apparently not, because someone clearly found out about them."

Naruto turns to Kurama. "So what can we do? Is there any way to stop them from being released? Can't we just seal them back in the gates again?"

" _ **We would need people on par with the Uzumaki clan of old to do that. Their sealing, powered by their chakra, is what allowed them to seal them away in the first place."**_

"So then let's go to the Hidden Whirlpool and see if we can find something! That place… my ancestors are from there, they're the ones who kept these things at bay. I gotta figure out how to do it again." Naruto seems more on edge than usual. "Hey, Old Man Raikage, don't you know something about the Uzumaki clan? You guys tried to kidnap my mom when she was young, right? So you must've done your research."

A grumbles. "I don't like the insinuation, but yes, we have research on clans and abilities of note. But we don't have a lot on the Uzumaki. Most of what we know, we know from the members who lived in the Hidden Leaf- namely you, your mother, and the First Hokage's wife. But something might come up. C, prepare the research unit. They're gonna have a lot of reading to do. Darui, send word to the Tsuchikage and the Mizukage. The old fossil's done more shady things than we can imagine, he might have something on the Uzumaki that we don't; and the Hidden Mist is currently in charge of what was once the Land of Whirlpools and the Hidden Whirlpool Village."

C and Darui nod. "Yes, sir."

A then turns to Kurama and Gyuki. "So, is there anything else you can tell us about the Great Beasts."

Kurama hops from his seat and heads for the door. " _ **Eight Tails can fill you in on the details."**_

" _ **Even then, I only really know some of their identities. We don't even know how many of them there truly are."**_

"Any bit helps."

At this point, the door to the office swings open, and Hinata enters. "Naruto!" She sees 'Naruto' in front of her and runs in to hug him. "I was so worried, are you okay?"

" _ **Wrong one, Hyuga."**_ The voice coming from the person in front of her is very clearly not Naruto's.

Hinata breaks away and gets a closer look at him, seeing the red eyes and more distinct facial markings. "You're… Kurama? Oh, I'm sorry." She looks flustered and the real Naruto comes to her and hugs her, laughing.

Kurama huffs and dismisses the Shadow Clone he's inhabiting.

"How's Kotori?"

"She's fine. We saw the entire fight from the hospital and she was worried about you, so I came to check up on you."

"Then let's go back; don't want her worrying. I'll fill you in on what happened."

* * *

Things went back to normal fairly quickly. Kotori and Takai took an additional week to recover from their injuries. Kotori got into a lot of trouble when she was found to be practicing her jutsu despite recovering from chakra exhaustion. They threatened to tie her to the bed. She didn't believe it but why take the chance?

When they got back to the Academy and were greeted like heroes, with massive cheering and thunderous applause. Many of the kids who were wary of them before became welcoming. Over the next day, Takai opened up a great deal and she made more friends among her classmates.

Kitsui mellowed out quite a bit and drifted away from the kids he used to spend the most time with, and more time alone. Kotori, Takai, and Hayai approached him and they became closer friends. His family situation has gotten a bit strained and he's been under even more pressure to be better, but he's found something beyond his parents' wants that motivates him. His new friends.

Speaking of the Yotsuki family situation, they were mostly held accountable for what happened. The Raikage ruled that because the Yotsuki clan are the ones who pushed for an excursion to take place on their lands, the responsibility fell on them to ensure that the path the kids took was safe for travel, especially with the weather being what it was the day prior. Still, the sensei voluntarily stepped down and took paid leave from work, meaning that a substitute took over for the time being.

KItsui began taking things more seriously and began a more friendly competition with Hayai as opposed to what they'd had before, with the Yotsuki trying to win just because he was told he had to. They began working together and training, along with Takai and Kotori.

Kotori continued to train her jutsu and is making great progress. The experience back in the Valley was traumatic, but it actually helped her learn about her abilities. She spent a good deal of time with the condors, along with her 3 friends from the Hidden Cloud. She found out that spending time with them and learning about them, increasing her knowledge, is where her jutsu thrives. The more she knows about the condors, the better she is at summoning and controlling them. During the fall, she was in a panicked state and overexerted herself by summoning a Lightning Condor that was actually larger than normal, and because of that she expended her entire chakra reserve. With the help of Naruto and Hinata, she started summoning younger chicks and then adolescents. Summoning a grown condor is still taxing on her and she can't maintain them for long, but now she knows how her jutsu actually works. They're able to help her train better and her progress is clear as day.

Her control over her feathers has also drastically increased. If she summons too much, she loses her focus and they fall but it's something. As a test, Naruto and Hinata began teaching her about sparrows. There're some that fly around, not in a dedicated place like the condors, but she started being able to summon sparrow chicks by observing them in the wild. They're not certain as to why, but she's able to summon more sparrows than condors and use them simultaneously. Hinata guesses it's something to do with size and because maintaining them requires less chakra.

All in all, the remaining three weeks of their stay were very productive and much more fun than the first month. Sadly for everyone involved, though, the 2 months that Naruto and Hinata were scheduled to stay came to an end and it was time for them to move on and continue on their mission.

* * *

Naruto, Hinata, and Kotori find themselves once more in the Raikage's office this time for the final time as they're scheduled to depart later today.

A hands Naruto a scroll. "It's not much, as I said, but this is what we know of the Uzumaki clan. It's nothing useful and is more general knowledge, but it may help you connect to your lost clan."

Naruto takes it and holds it close. "Thank you. It means a lot."

"And this..." He hands Hinata another scroll. "...you can consider a sign of good will. Our research team stumbled across it while looking for information on the Uzumaki."

Visibly confused, she takes the scroll and opens it reading through its contents. "What is this?"

"Records from over 70 years ago, long before the Hidden Village system was established. They speak of a now dead clan that could conjure feathers and birds that aided them in the battlefield."

Kotori's eyes widen and she stands on the tip of her toes to get a look at the scroll. Hinata lowers it so she can see. "That's… my jutsu?"

A nods. "Your girl seems to be a descendant of the Houyoku clan which died out long ago." He looks at Kotori "Although I guess not. That scroll contains some descriptions of the abilities they've displayed; it might help her learn what she's capable of."

Naruto looks between the two scrolls and the Raikage. "And you're giving us this just like that? This is valuable information, isn't it? There's no way you can just part with it like it's nothing."

A stares at Naruto sternly. "You're right. The old me probably would've demanded something outrageous in return and keep you hostage if you refuse." Kotori gulps. He looks scary but he's always been friendly when they've met. Would he actually do that? "But! Because of some brat who went on and united the shinobi of the world under one banner, I won't. Most of that information was gained through … questionable means. I don't regret any of it but times _have_ changed and I plan to change with them. So yes, Naruto, I'm parting with them like it's nothing. Make good use of them. The Hokage will owe me a drink." His features soften and he seems to go from stern leader to a more fatherly figure.

He grips the Uzumaki scroll and gently places a hand on Kotori's head. "I will. You can count on that."

"Good, because I have another one for you." He holds out a third scroll.

"... You're really giving those out like candy, huh?"

"This one's from the Hokage, it arrived barely an hour ago. You're being called on a special mission."

Kotori holds out her hands out expectancy. She's the only one yet to receive a scroll. A looks between Naruto and Hinata, who just shrug, and sighs, handing the girl the scroll. She excitedly opens it and her parents look over her shoulder to read it.

Hinata kneels down to get a better look. "This is... a summons to the Fire Capital to attend negotiations?"

"In a week's time, yes."

Hinata stiffens her expressions. "This is… about the Land of Rice Paddies being absorbed by another nation. The Lands of Fire and Woods are each vying for it and the Rice Paddies Daimyo will decide who his lands will go to."

She suspected something of the sort might happen. A nation losing its land is sad news and this could potentially cause conflict between the nations, or other uninvolved nations might take issue with someone else gaining new territory. It was always bound to be a complicated matter.

"But why are we being called? Isn't that something for Granny Tsunade to deal with?"

Hinata stands up. "I presume it's a display of might. The Land of Fire is home to the hero who saved the shinobi world. The Fire Daimyo wants to show off that fact and to say that the Land of Rice Paddies would prosper better under us."

"Hah, you've got a good head on your shoulders, Hyuga. I imagine you're right. That's definitely something I'd do, at least."

Naruto scowls. "So I'm basically just going to be paraded around?"

"Welcome to upper politics, kid. If you plan on being Hokage, this is something you'll have to deal with a lot, whether you like it or not."

"One thing worries me." Hinata looks concerned. "A week should be just enough for us to reach at normal speed, but with Kotori…"

Kotori looks up to her, determined. "I'll be fine. I've gotten a lot stronger! I can keep up. And like Mr. Omoi said, if I'm good at something here, then I'll be even better at it outside the village!"

Naruto smiles. "That's our girl."

* * *

The young family say their farewell and leave the office, making their way for the main gate. As they walk through the streets, Kotori constantly looks around the streets and the landscape. She got so used to being here and even though she knew from the start it'd be temporary, she didn't expect to experience the things she did and feel the things she does. All the times playing, learning, and fighting. She accomplished so much in so little time.

At the gates, they see a small group of people gathered, a colourful group of individuals easily recognizable as their friends. Bee and his students, Samui, Omoi, and Karui; Samui's brother Atsui; Takai and her parents Futoi and Yukai; Hayai; and Kitsui. All of them waiting for the group to arrive and be ready to depart.

Kotori immediately runs to her friends and they have a big group hug.

Naruto and Hinata approach more slowly. "You guys…"

Samui speaks up first. "We all wanted to send you off."

Futoi and Yukai and each hug the couple. "You've done so much for us and the kids that we could never repay. Thank you."

Everyone gives their farewells and wishes them the best in continuing their mission. It's an emotional and heartfelt moment.

Naruto grins. "I'm never gonna forget everything that happened here. I'll carry these feelings onto the other villages and keep the peace we worked so hard for."

Hinata bows. "Thank you for your care. It wouldn't have been the same without all of you. Samui, Atsui, it was a pleasure to share your home."

Samui gives a very light smile. "Of course. I got the opportunity to see firsthand how this project goes. And I think looking at you two helped me reach a decision- I'm going to ask to be in charge of a Genin team All thanks to you."

Everyone around her looks surprised.

"Seriously, sis?"

Omoi's lollipop falls from his slack jawed mouth. "Oh no. The poor kids."

Karui smacks him across the head. "Can't you just be happy. I think your team's gonna hit the jackpot having you as a sensei, Samui."

Once Bee's responsibilities as a jinchuriki took precedence and didn't have time to be part of their 4-man cell, Samui took over as the only Jounin among them. She's a good leader and a very capable ninja, although Karui never would've imagined she'd want to take care of kids. She looks over to Naruto. That guy really has a way of changing people's perspectives.

"That's awesome to hear! Maybe one day your students will get to meet Kotori."

"That would be nice."

Finally, Naruto and Hinata turn to Bee, who simply holds out both fists. The duo returns the fist and the older shinobi smiles widely. There's nothing more he needs to do or say, they're able to understand each other with just that.

Naruto and Hinata make sure their gear is all accounted for and look to the kids who are still saying goodbye.

Speaking of, Kotori is openly bawling her eyes out, all 4 of them still in a group hug. "I'm really gonna miss you guys."

"Me, too!" Oddly enough Kitsui is almost just as emotional about them leaving.

"It's not gonna as groovy without you." Hayai sniffs and brushes away his tears as soon as they appear, trying

They keep their hugs for a while and Kotori looks up to her first friend here. The much taller girl is sobbing but trying to be quiet about it.

Kotori hugs her again as tightly as she can.

Takai begins crying out loud. "You were my first friend. I'll miss you so much/"

"I promise I'll write! I'll write you so much you're gonna be sick of me."

Eventually the kids manage to separate long enough for them to actually leave. They make their way out of the Hidden Cloud, to depart to the Land of Fire Capital on a new mission.

They wave one final time.

Kotori brushes her eyes and looks to the path ahead.

* * *

**Name meanings**

Houyoku = 'phoenix wings'


	11. A New Home

**A NEW HOME**

_**Two and a half months ago** _

The Hidden Mountain Village, as the name would suggest, lies atop the highest mountain peak of the Land of Woods, Mount Ashigara. Much of it is built atop the peaks, where it's sizable enough for a village to comfortably lay, although some structures are also built into the mountainside.

Mizushi, Kuga, and Takeshi have made their way back to the village after a fairly long absence, and they return with one extra person- Itsu Chinoike who looks uncomfortably to be here. She's still not sure what she's gotten herself into.

She's taken to the main building of the village where the leaders usually reside. Inside, in what appears to be the main meeting room- chair and desk set at the back and a larger table to the side designated for meetings.

The man behind the desk notices their appearance.

He wears the standard shinobi uniform for the Hidden Mountain- dark green clothing under a dark brown flak jacket. In stark contrast is his hair- a red mane that reaches his shoulder blades, framing an attractive face; the one blemish being a deep scar that goes from the temple of his nose to his lower jaw.

His voice has a soothing essence to it, but there's an underlying poison to it that makes Itsu's blood curl. "Takeshi. Kuga. How is the Hidden Hot Waters fairing?"

The two of them step forward.

Kuga playfully frowns. "No concern for our wellbeing, Kaidomaru?"

"If you were the kind of people I needed to worry about, I wouldn't trust you with anything."

Takeshi holds out a scroll and places it on the desk, and then steps back to his original place. "Everything is going to plan. Because the Land of Hot Waters reduced their shinobi village to nearly nothing and broke off any close ties with other lands, it was a simple feat to ease our way in. They realized they couldn't remain neutral in these new times and before they could rekindle old alliances, we swooped in and made ourselves the top contender. All as you intended."

Kaidomaru opens the scrolls and reads through it, a smile on his face.

Kuga places a hand on her hip and smirks. "All we need to do now is merge with the Land of Rice Paddies by showing ourselves as the better option than the Land of Fire. Once we have them, absorbing the Land of Hot Waters will be child's play."

"Excellent." He then turns to Mizushi. "Where's Fudou?"

"He's right here." Mizushi weaves hand signs and markings spread all over his hand. He opens his palm and a blob of chakra manifests.

Kaidomaru steps in front of his desk and forms the same hand signs and the same markings appear on his hand. He touches the ball of chakra and it's absorbed into him.

Itsu looks between all of them. "Wait, hold on, what do you mean 'he's here'?' You said you killed him, right?"

"In a way. This is his soul, containing all of his memories and knowledge. If he wouldn't share the secrets of his cult so we'll just take them."

Kaidomaru clenches his fist as he feels energy washing over him. "This is a special sealing technique, a Forbidden Jutsu of the Uzumaki clan. To take a person's soul and absorb their knowledge into yourself. Although it takes some time to process. Just because this Fudou died doesn't mean his research must be lost, as well. It can still be useful."

"And you're telling me this, why?"

"Because you knowing won't change what is to happen." He stands right in front of her, almost too close. He's actually shorter than her and yet his figure feels overwhelming. "So you're Itsu? And a Chinoike, at that."

"Yeah, what's it to you? These guys said you're looking for allies for something big. Why would you want me into this?"

"For various reasons. For one, because Mizushi thinks you're interesting and I've come to trust his judgement. And I've been observing your chakra ever since you entered the village and want to confirm something." He steps back and sits on the ground, cross-legged. "Sit down."

Itsu crosses her arms. "Why?"

"To test my hypothesis. Should I be wrong, then nothing will happen but should I be right… well, I think you'd be very interested in the result."

She looks from him to the three who escorted her. She's not a fan of being put on the heat seat so quickly, especially since she trusts them about as far as she can throw them, but at the very least they outnumber her so she sits down. "And how are you gonna prove this hypothesis of yours?"

"By performing another forbidden sealing jutsu, derived from the one you just saw."

At that, she immediately jumps back, pressing her back against the wall. She activates her **Ketsuryugan** and draws a kunai. No one else in the room makes a move, instead just quietly observing.

"You fuck, you think I'm just gonna let you take my soul? I'll burn this whole place to the ground."

Kaidomaru relaxes his hands on his knees. "No such thing. Fudou was a difficult character and thus his soul is more important than he himself. But you, you're more useful to us as in body and spirit. So long as you continue being useful... " He simply smiles knowingly. "You've nothing to fear. What I'm to use is a seal for sharing memories, not taking them."

Itsu clicks her tongue but knows she's in a tight spot. She's faced a lot of enemies before, she's betrayed and been betrayed. These guys know of her Ketsuryugan and didn't even bat an eye to defend him. They're not disloyal, she can tell that much. That means they're fully confident in their own abilities and of their leader's. She'd rather not risk it.

"Fine."

She sits back down and Kaidomaru begins forming seals, markings appearing under them and surrounding them. After what she considers an overly long time, he extends his hands to her. "Place your hands against mine." She does as instructed and the markings flow through her skin.

After a moment of nothing, her mind is wracked by flashes of memories. Her body feels heavy and in pain. Like she's being pushed and pulled at the same time, and stomped on for good measure. She sees her life as she remembers it. Traveling alone, taking jobs to survive. But the memories go back. To days when she traveled with others, when she trusted them. Back to her childhood, back to when her parents were alive, back when she was a toddler, and then a baby. Going further and further back. The memories switch to her parents, but younger? Again going backward to them getting younger to her mother as a child and further back to her mother being born, held by 2 people she's unfamiliar with and yet knows they're her grandparents. She sees and lives through all of these memories and experiences as if all of it's happening right now at the same time.

She hasn't even realized she'd activated her Ketsuryugan again.

Kaidomaru lets go. She hits the ground, propping herself up just barely. She's sweating profusely as if she ran a hundred marathons. She clearly remembers everything she just saw as if she just lived through it. Her own memories that she shouldn't even remember and even her parents' and grandparents' memories.

"What… was all that? How?" She manages to get through pained breaths.

" **Uzumaki-clan Sealing: Bloodline Regression.** It's a jutsu that allows members of the same clan to delve deep into their lineage and recall the memories of the past or of their fellow clansmen. I showed you your own history, but I could also have shown you my own memories or the memories of my fellow clansmen who've all shared their memories with me. Do you understand? This was only possible because we're of the same blood."

She looks up. "Then… you're a Chinoike, too?"

"No, I'm not. You were born into the Chinoike but you've ancestry to another clan. My clan." He leans down and runs his fingers through her hair. The poison in his voice seems to have disappeared. He sounds genuine and his face gains a certain softness as he smiles. "You poor thing. You spent so long being lost in this world, not knowing where you're meant to be. But your search is over. You've found the place where you belong, where many of our brothers and sisters also found their way to after being lost. Cast aside the fake name you gave yourself and be with your true family."

Kaidomaru embraces Itsu who, for reasons unbeknownst and emotions long forgotten to her, starts crying. "Welcome home, Kikyo Uzumaki."

* * *

"Kikyo." A voice calls out but no one answers.

Kikyo looks around the streets of the Hidden Mountain Village, absentmindedly taking in the scenery. The village itself is layered, resting on varying levels of the Mt. Ashigara- several districts are on the same elevation while others you need to go up or down the mountain to reach. It's different from anything she'd observed so far in her journeys.

"Kikyo?" Once more no response from the woman herself.

That said, sightseeing right now is more to help her keep her mind focused. She can still vividly remember everything she saw earlier thanks to Kaidomaru's jutsu. Her past memories, even ones she'd forgotten, even ones a person shouldn't be able to remember. She remembers her parents naming her Kikyo before she was even born, remembers the conversations they'd had about it.

Memories of your ancestors. This Uzumaki clan doesn't mess around with their jutsu.

"Kikyo!" A tap on the shoulder startles her, despite her long training. She's way too rattled right now.

She whips around to see the red made of the leader himself, Kaidomaru Sakata, or as he's known to a select few, Kaidomaru Uzumaki.

"Are you alright? You weren't responding." He seems concerned.

She shakes her head. "Sorry, I just…"

He gives a sympathetic smile. "Not used to your new name yet? Or I suppose it's your old name, you just didn't know about it."

She nods. "Yeah. It's… weird. These memories… how far can you go?"

"Depending on your skill level, dozens of generations back. But it comes with its risks." He looks over the railing she'd been gazing over, looking at the lower levels of the Hidden Mountain Village.

"What risks?"

He taps his head. "Information overload. There's a reason we can't remember much of our early days, and why we even forget more recent details and events. We can barely remember what happens in our lifetime, let alone previous."

"It's not dangerous, is it?"

Kaidomaru pauses,a dark shadow over his eyes that he tries to hide from his new companion. "Of course not." He smiles and turns to continue walking. "Shall we?"

"Right…" She follows him through the village's levels, to one of the middle ones. The Clan Districts. "You've been awfully open about a lotta things. Why? I can turn around and say no."

"You certainly could. But I have faith. I've peered into your mind, and in turn you caught a glimpse of mine. You know of my intentions to rebuild the Uzumaki clan, to stand as one once more and show the world how we were wronged. You've been wronged even more than that, losing both your mother's Uzumaki clan and your father's Chinoike clan. I believe I can offer you a way to be set free of the resentment you feel towards the Great Nations."

Kikyo looks at him from the corner of her eyes. "Just because you saw some of my memories doesn't mean you know me, and I certainly don't know you."

"Then let's fix that."

He stops in front of a large wooden gate, behind which are the homes of one of the village's clan. Above the gate is the clan's symbol. A swirl contained within a circle. The Uzumaki clan.

Kaidomaru opens the gates and walks inside.

Kikyo nervously looks around. There're people going about their day, many in civilian clothing with the occasional shinobi either returned or about to depart on a mission. Many of them have hair of varying shades of red but there're other colours, as well. Either the Uzumaki's red hair didn't get passed on, or they married into the clan.

Kaidomaru greets and is greeted by everyone he passes, with some confused greetings going to Kikyo.

Her leads her to the largest building in the district, clearly of some import. The architecture resembles a heavily fortified pagoda, being made of much sturdier material than normal. More stone than wood. Even the tiled roofs, while appearing similar, have a somewhat heavier look and feel to them. It's very ornate and decorated, and the many columns around the district have intricately carved symbols into them.

Going inside, Kaidomaru and Kikyo are met by a large gathering of Uzumaki, there to greet their leader.

An older man bows. "Lord Kaidomaru, it is good to see you."

"And you, as well, Elder Seto." Kaidomaru motions to the woman with him. "This is Kikyo, Kikyo Uzumaki, and she's to join us for the time being, should she wish to stay."

Kikyo looks around. "So, you're all Uzumaki?"

Elder Seto nods. "We are indeed." He steps forward and takes her hand. Kikyo winces, not really wanting to but allows it to happen. He cups her hand with both his and smiles. "Welcome home, child."

"Ah, it's… good to be home?"

He chuckles. "I see you're still uncertain, but with time you will come to see this as your home. If you're here, then you must share our desire."

"Desire?"

Seto stares into her eyes, with a dark and murderous intent, although it's not directed at her. The Uzumaki behind him share this look. Seething anger.

"Revenge." Seto's voice comes out whispery and rough at the same time. "Against those who wronged us."

Kikyo steps back subconsciously. With her Ketsuryugan, she's always been the one whose eyes scared others away. This is probably the first time where she's seen someone containing more rage than herself.

Oddly enough, the one to break the tension is Kaidomaru who clasps Elder Seto on the shoulder.

"I've business to attend outside of the village. I'll borrow two Jounin from our clan and Kikyo," He turns to her, "You're coming with."

"Where to, exactly?" She asks the obvious question.

"A place called Mountain's Graveyard. We need to pick something up from there."

* * *

Following a two day trek, Kaidomaru, Kikyo, and two more members of the Uzumaki clan stand atop a hill overlooking a vast forest. The area is full of greenery and mountainous landscapes and would be a rather serene sight if it wasn't for the large skeletons that line the forest floors.

Skulls and rib cages larger than the trees themselves dot the area, themselves overgrown with moss and turning green. Whatever creatures died here are anything but normal.

Kikyo simply points to the skeletons, trying to find the words.

"You needn't worry about them." Kaidomaru makes his way down, followed closely by the other Uzumaki.

"I'm kinda more worried about what left 'em in that state..."

It only takes them a brief walk to reach their destination. An even area of the mountain, still lined with skeletons of varying sizes, although these aren't as tall as the mountains, at least. It's slightly reassuring that not everything here is or was of monstrous size.

One of the cliff sides has a natural entrance that upon entering, does not look as natural. The corridors seem more and more deliberately carved the further inside they go, even branching out to some barren rooms that seem to hold nothing inside.

Kaidomaru seems to know where he's going and the Uzumaki follow closely behind, trusting him fully.

When they enter one specific room, Kikyo has to stop in her tracks at the sight inside, as do the other two Jounin.

"Sir… what's all of this?"

Inside the room, in small alcoves dotted all across the room's walls are glass containers filled with water. Inside each of them is a single eye. The Sharingan.

"This, my friends, is our payment and our justice. Our rightful property." Kaidomaru takes out a sealing scroll from his pouch and lays it on the ground. "Take the containers out carefully and store them away. We've a lot to go through."

Kikyo looks around in disbelief. "Why are they all here? And how did you know?"

"For the how," Kaidomaru begins taking out the canisters one by one and placing them on the ground for his fellow clan members to store, "I came across this place not long ago after investigating the instigators of the Fourth War. They used this place as their hideout and base of operations. Right under our damn noses." He says through gritted teeth, anger showing on his face. "As for the why, I can't begin to tell you. Perhaps they thought our nation and village would be too small and unprepared to notice or do anything about it. Either way, I intend to prove them wrong. Madara and Obito Uchiha..." He runs a hand over a container that has one of the activated Sharingan. "You underestimated us greatly, the ones who know more about the Sharingan than you ever did."

Kikyo raises a brow. "What's that mean?"

Kaidomaru smirks. "You'll see in due time." He turns and walks toward her, stopping directly behind as she watches the eyes intently. "What do you feel, seeing the eyes of the Uchiha just lying here."

She doesn't answer for a moment, the only indication that she heard him being her breath becoming deeper. "You know what I feel. You saw it." She finally answers.

"Say it."

"I'm… glad. The Uchiha, the Hyuga… They got to live cosy lives in their village while the Chinoike were sent to 'live' in a fucking pit. They got what they deserve." She shakes her head. "No, they got off too damn easy. Even though they're all dead, I still fucking hate them and want them to die again."

Kaidomaru gently places a hand on her shoulder, still standing directly behind her. "Good. Keep those feelings and don't let them go."

The other Uzumaki begin to wonder if they should leave the room for a minute or two.

Kikyo rolls her shoulder, getting Kaidomaru's hand off. "We gotta store 'em, right? Let's get to it."

They go back to work.

It takes a bit of time, having to be very careful with how they handle the cargo. For such a seemingly simple task, it's actually more tiring than one might think but they get all the Sharingan inside the scrolls and make their way outside, to return to the Hidden Mountain Village.

As they check their packs and ensure that everything is in order for them to return, they're all alerted to a presence stepping onto the rocky ground not too far from them.

A young man of black hair tied by a sash, and a cloak covering his body. He stares at the four redheaded Mountain shinobi, his contrasting black and grey eyes giving an unnerving feeling.

Kaidomaru gives out a surprised 'huh'. "Well, if it isn't the last surviving Uchiha. What brings you to the Land of Woods?" He makes it a point to emphasize that his presence is not entirely welcome.

Sasuke steps forward. "Those eyes. Give them back." His voice is even and cold. For a moment, he can feel himself reverting to how he was before.

"They were lying around in my Land, Uchiha. They're mine for the taking. Or you could consider it payment. You, Madara Uchiha, Obito Uchiha, your clan used the Land of Woods for your own games and even started a whole war from my backyard. So we'll call it even."

"I won't repeat myself." Sasuke draws his sword from under his cloak. "Those are the last remnants of good people. They're not toys for you to play around with."

"Toys?" Kaidomaru laughs. "My dear boy, the Uchiha are the ones who've treated them like toys." He reaches into a pouch strapped to his back and takes out a fearsome oni mask, placing it over his face. "It's time someone actually put these eyes to good use." His voice comes out echoed from under the mask.

The two Jounin motion for Kikyo to step back. "Let the boss handle it."

Sasuke runs forward with lightning speed, blade already surging with lightning. His intention was to get in as close as he possibly could and strike but by the time he'd moved, so had Kaidomaru. Where Sasuke intended to reach where Kaidomaru was standing, they instead meet halfway. The leader of the Hidden Mountain proves to be able to keep up.

When he Flickered to intercept Sasuke, Kaidomaru had tugged at a scroll by his side to unleash its contents. He now wields a large axe, almost as tall as himself. With the blade surrounded by chakra, he swings. Sasuke does, as well.

Sparks fly as the blades clash, neither of them giving up. Sasuke's katana does not bend under the pressure of the axe, despite the enormous size difference.

"So quick to jump in to fight." Kaidomaru mocks. "You're still impatient."

The three tomoe swirl, expanding in size to form a straight three-pointed shuriken design, surrounded by a six-pointed star.

[Amaterasu]

Kaidomaru uses the weight of Sasuke's katana to push himself backward and avoid the pitch black flames which instead hit the rock walls behind him.

Sasuke swings his blade through the air, in preparation for his next attack. The clean sound of the sword, a clear indication of how well it's taken care of. A sharp blade for a sharp mind.

"Don't you dare make judgements of my character."

"Of course not. How could I possibly judge one who's slaughtered hundreds and now pretends to be good? Both you and your brother, after everything you've done..."

"I SAID!" Sasuke disappears from sight. Not a Flicker. Something much faster, something untraceable. He teleports directly behind, a skeletal being of chakra surrounding his body. The incomplete Susano'o brings back its sword wreathed in the black flames of Amaterasu and prepares to strike Kaidomaru who's still facing forward. It's a split second. He has no time to react. Susano'o strikes. "DON'T YOU DARE!"

Kaidomaru doesn't move. The scorching sword goes to strike his back but before it can reach, the Susano'o sword and hand disappear, as if ice melting at the touch of hot water. With Sasuke himself getting closer, the ribcage protecting him also melts away.

'W-what?!'

Kaidomaru strikes backward. The blade of his axe previously strengthened by raw chakra now itself enhanced by his own Fire Style. With the Uchiha wide open, Kaidomaru sends a large wave of fire as he swings his weapon, catching Sasuke in the fraction of time he spent being surprised.

When the great flames subside, Sasuke is on the ground breathing heavily. His cloak is cut and much of his right side is burned but he's still in fighting condition.

He stares at the Hidden Mountain leader, his mind racing as quickly as it can.

'Was that chakra absorption? No, it didn't feel like it. That was more like... chakra nullification, but I've never heard of such an ability.'

"You seem lost in thought." Kaidomaru approaches. "Perhaps you're realizing you acted too rashly." He prepares the axe again.

Before the Uzumaki can rush forward with his fiery axe, Sasuke extends his sword hand, weaving hand signs with just his right hand while holding onto the hilt.

[Chidori Spear]

The sword extends to a great length, reaching all the way to Kaidomaru who's forced to block it with his axe. Fire and lightning clashing creates a spectacle of light that would otherwise be impressive to watch under different circumstances.

'It's not getting nullified?' Sasuke continues to analyze his opponent. 'Why? What's different? Does it only work on attacks he can't see? … No, there's no way a convenient ability like that exists. But the only other difference is...' Sasuke focuses his Mangekyo on the lightning style spear.

[Blaze Style: Kagutsuchi]

Black flames crawl upon the spear, racing closer and closer to their target, but they never reach him. The fire is put out the moment it comes closer to Kaidomaru.

'It's my Mangekyo abilities he can block?!'

Sasuke lightly turns his katana sideways, weaving his chakra to change the properties of the Chidori Spear. From the tip of the lightning spear, where it clashes with the axe, multiple points begin to emerge, ready to stab in all directions. Kaidomaru can block one spear, but can he block ten more?

Unfortunately for Sasuke, he won't find an answer.

Kaidomaru digs his feet into the ground and using all of his force, breaks the spear, sending another wave of fire Sasuke's way. The Uchiha dodges to the side, thinking over his next course of action.

"You seem to be beginning to comprehend. Allow me to reiterate. The Sharingan is a child's toy in your hands."

"If you believe my skills begin and end with the Sharingan, you're in for a rude awakening." Sasuke moves his foot, ready to propel himself forward. 'I say that but it's a serious blow to my arsenal. I don't know what else he has up his sleeve…'

A blur makes its way closer to Sasuke. A redheaded figure runs to him at full speed, trying to come in from his blindspot but he spots her before she can get closer.

'Tch. I don't have time for you lot, too.'

His Mangekyo spins as she lifts her head to look at him.

[Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes]

A powerful Genjutsu attributed to the Sharingan. Kaidomaru Sakata seems to be immune to these abilities but subordinates most likely aren't. Why else would they stay back?

The Shackling Stakes entrap the enemy in a potent illusion where they remain motionless and helpless, experiencing the excruciating pain of being stabbed by stakes. It's enough to get anyone to back down, and yet… this woman does not.

When he sees her eyes, they're not brown as they were before. Red. Blood red eyes with a black iris and horizontal pupil stare back at him, having negated the illusion. Instead, she falls into one himself.

[Draconic Illusion: Sea of Blood]

He finds himself in a red landscape, falling into a red sea. A genjutsu more powerful than anything he'd experienced not of the Sharingan. The water's pressure crushes his body and his lungs begin to fill. He's assaulted from outside and inside. It takes him a moment of focus but he manages to overpower the genjutsu with his Rinnegan.

When he awakens, his legs are enveloped in earth with the soil rising to cover more of his body. One of the Jounin has his hands planted on the ground, apparently the cause of this jutsu, while the other is already by Kikyo's side, wind whirling around his hand.

[Wind Style: Wind Blade]

Sasuke reacts immediately upon seeing it.

[Chidori Stream]

Lightning surrounds his entire body, breaking the Earth Style around his legs and covering the entire area around him. Kikyo steps back behind her companion who sends the Wind Blade flying, keeping the lightning at bay. Normally Wind would easily render Lightning useless but the Uchiha's power is on another level. The Uzumaki, however, does not wield, keeping his blade active and creating more vicious winds. He thrusts forward causing Sasuke to fly back to get away.

'Those two apparently aren't helpless themselves, themselves' He looks to the two Jounin before turning to the woman with the doujutsu. 'But those eyes…'

Kaidomaru runs in, wasting no time. He enters a close quarters fight again, swinging his axe with incredible ease given its enormous size. Sasuke tries to dodge more than parry but the Uzumaki makes that difficult with precise strikes and feints. He slams the axe into the ground with a downward strike, cracking the ground. He lets go of the handle and positions himself better before he grabs it again for another swing. He does this tactic several times. A powerful strike that causes him to lose his grip or need to readjust it before continuing.

During one such instance, Sasuke takes his chance.

He switches places with the axe just as Kaidomaru is about to grab it and goes to strike his side. What he thought was a surprise attack turns out to be a trap.

"Gotcha" Kaidomaru smiles as golden chains made of pure chakra emerge from his hand that was about to grab his axe and embed themselves in Sasuke's torso.

[Adamantine Draining Chains]

He immediately feels his chakra getting sucked into the chains. Kaidomaru reaches for Sasuke's eyes to try and cover them before he can use any annoying abilities, but Sasuke's already been able to deduce a limit to whatever is protecting Kaidomaru from the Sharingan's abilities. He was able to block Susano'o and Amaterasu but both times he teleported directly next to the Hidden Mountain's leader, he had no issues. So as long as the ability doesn't directly target Kaidomaru, it's usable.

Before Sasuke's eyes can be covered, he teleports away. He's breathing heavily and his chakra took a huge hit despite the short time he spent in those chains. They're a nasty ability, whatever they are.

Kaidomaru growls. "And here I thought I timed it right."

Kikyo comes to stand by his side, as do the other two Jounin.

Taking a look at his situation, taking into account that he can somehow counter the Mangekyo's abilities, Sasuke decides he has far too little information to continue this battle. The loss of the Sharingan that were in these halls is great but he can get them back once he knows more. As things stand, this is a losing battle.

The nine tomoe within his left eye spin, creating an obsidian portal in the sky in front of him, the black matter spinning in the same direction as his Rinnesharingan. When he steps through, the portal closes.

They immediately look around for any signs of a counter but after several moments of quiet, they lower their guards.

"The scrolls?" Kaidomaru asks.

"They're still here." The Jounin check their pouches and find everything where it's meant to be.

"So," Kikyo stares at where Sasuke was a moment ago, "That's the last of the Uchiha?"

"That's right. A formidable foe in his own right, and one of the major elements that stand in our way. It would've been good if we could've taken him out here, but…" He takes off his mask and his voice loses its otherworldly echo, "That was unlikely to begin with."

"How did you block his abilities?" She asks the burning question.

"Simply one of the many secrets of the Uzumaki of olde." He smiles. "With time you can learn it, as well, should you wish to remain by my side."

"You know… with the way you smile, everything you say sounds like a threat…"

He simply chuckles as he Flickers away for the Hidden Mountain Village.

"Yeah, not reassuring."

The three of them follow.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NAME MEANINGS
> 
> Kaidomaru (カイドマル, Kaidomaru) = named after folklore hero Kintaro/Sakata no Kintoki
> 
> Itsu (イツ, Itsu) = 'lost' is now Kikyo (キキョ, Kikyo) = 'to return home'
> 
> Mount Ashigara (足柄山) = where Kintaro was born and lived


	12. Be Strong I

**BE STRONG I**

Tsunade is currently nursing a drink while sitting in a lounging chair, dressed in an outfit reminiscent to her usual attire. She's donned a sleeveless red robe that still exposes her cleavage, and white pants. Around her waist is a wide white sash with the symbol of the Hidden Leaf embroidered into it. To her side is a white haori and the traditional Hokage's headdress that she's taken off while resting.

It's different from what she's used to, but it's an official affair and she had to look more presentable. Shizune really got on her case to get these clothes.

 _( Description based on art by xXHancockXx:_ _xxhancockxx/art/I-Am-Legend-210203330_ _)_

Around her is a vast garden worthy of the Fire Daimyo. Well, people say 'worthy', but to her, it's overblown and a complete waste of space. No person needs this much space just for a private park that only a handful of people even get to see, anyway. Hedge mazes as far as she can see, beautiful flower beds, topiary art- hedges trimmed in the shape of various animals. It might've been a relaxing sight if she wasn't so stressed over the reason she's here.

She and her regiment arrived a day before to prepare for the meeting, bound to be a rather annoying one. Something like two nations merging into one hasn't happened since the First Great Ninja War. A historical moment that's bound to change how relations will progress in these new times. The Five Great Nations are still keeping the peace and the Kage are civil to each other for the probably the first time since the founding of the Hidden Villages. Smaller nations, however, are still doubtful or everything and things are more strained with them than ever. Not that they can be blamed for it, they've suffered a lot and promises such as this have been broken before. Maybe if they can prove that this time it's serious, things will change for the better.

She's interrupted from her musings by her trusted student and right-hand woman, Shizune. Dressed in the traditional white robes of the Hidden Leaf medical unit which she usually only dons while on duty. She has her cap in her hands and brushes off the sweat from her brow.

"Lady Tsunade, the meeting is to take place soon. We should get ready."

Tsunade turns around and stares at her aide for a few moments.

"Is... something the matter, Lady Tsunade?" She brushes her hair back and dabs her forehead with a towel.

"No, it's just odd seeing you in uniform is all." She notices Shizune is clearly feeling hot. "You know you don't have to wear that thing if it's too much."

"That won't do! I _am_ your aide, but I'm also the head medical ninja, so I must look my part. At least while this is going on."

Tsunade sighs and stands up from her chair. "That's why I really hate this part of leadership. Putting on airs for no reason." She downs her sake in one shot and puts on her haori and headress, making her way inside.

"It is how it is." Shizune turns around and follows. She plans on making modifications to the medical uniform once she gets back.

* * *

The meeting hall of the Daimyo's palace is as overly large as the garden. Intricate columns line the sides of the room and various pieces of art decorate the walls, from expensive paintings to busts.

There are currently three large tables positioned in the middle of the room. So that their ends are facing each other. On the opposite ends are three grand chairs with the symbols of 'Fire', 'Woods,' and 'Rice Paddy' carved into them, meaning that the three Daimyo to be seated in them will all be facing the same point. On the sides are multiple other chairs for the Daimyo's advisors and the village leaders and their own advisors.

Currently only the Fire Daimyo and Rice Paddy Daimyo are seated and the former looks bored out of his mind, his wrinkly and naturally elongated face becoming even more comical.

Tsunade makes her way to the Land of Fire's table and bows respectfully before taking her spot in the middle, the others already seated. Besides her are the elders Homura and Koharu who she'd really rather just have retired already. They keep whispering outdated beliefs into her ear and she's getting tired of it. They're definitely not the people to lead the village to the future.

Thankfully, the other people on her table are ones she can trust. Shizune takes a seat next to Kakashi and Shikamaru, who've taken up the responsibilities of advisors. Next to Kakashi is a brown-haired man dressed in an ANBU uniform with a cat-like mask with red crescent markings around the eyes and green stripes on the cheeks and above the eyes. Only the people from the Hidden Leaf know that that's Yamato.

Opposite of them are the Daimyo's people who she doesn't know, nor does she care to know. They all look stiff and boring, although two of them are different. One is an older gentleman, seemingly around his 40s and clearly a businessman, dressed in formal robes, while the other one of note is a cheerful old man, long grey hair and beard, which is in sharp contrast to Koharu and Homura being grumpy all the time. They look about the same age, too.

The Daimyo seems to perk up. "Ah, Tsunade. So good to see you again. This is so boring. Can't we get some entertainment around here?"

"A pleasure to see you, as well, Lord Daimyo." It wasn't entirely.

One of the advisors closes his eyes and breaths in before replying. One would get the impression that what he's about to say, he's already said before. "My apologies, Lord Daimyo, please have patience."

The businessman lowers his head in the Daimyo's direction. "Once the negotiations end for the day, I will personally make arrangements for entertainment."

"Ah, I can always count on you, Mister Madoka." The Daimyo gives a relieved smile. "It IS with your backing that the merging of the Land of Fire and Land of Rice Paddies will happen, after all. It's good to have reliable people around."

"Your words honour me." He lowers his head again.

The Daimyo opens a fan and begins cooling himself off. "Actually, we're missing one other person from the Leaf, are we not? That hero boy."

"Naruto Uzumaki, sir." Kakashi speaks up. "I'm afraid we've yet to receive word of his arrival."

Tsunade notices a slight change in the expression of the old man opposite her- a smile and an expectant look towards the door. It was brief but she's gotten good at spotting changes in people's expression. Now if only she was as good at seeing through people's bluffs.

"Oh, that's too bad. I hope he arrives soon. I heard he's the son of the Fourth Hokage. He was a nice man."

"He was indeed, sir."

A young man enters the room, dressed in similar robes to the businessman sat at the Land of Fire's table. He appears to be around 20 years old with naturally darker grey hair and a tuft of fringe hair swirling upward. He's accompanied by an elderly monk from the Fire Temple. Bald head as is tradition for the ninja monks, and sporting a short grey beard. He wears the traditional pure white long sleeved robes and grey sash over one shoulder. The two make their way to the Fire Table.

The young man looks at the Daimyo's side of the table. "Elder Bansai has arrived. Um, where is he to be seated?"

The Daimyo stops fanning himself. "Oh, did I forget to mention? The Fire Temple won't be needed for this. You're free to leave."

"What?" The young man is visibly shocked. "But they traveled so far. I thought the Fire Temple was to take their place in the palace once again."

"Ah, we discussed it some more and decided not to. It's an old system, anyway We don't need it." The Daimyo seems very unapologetic.

"Ikkyu." The businessman addresses the young man sternly, but not looking at him. "Lord Daimyo has made his decision. I apologise for wasting your time, Elder Bansai."

"But father-" He's interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. Ikkyu turns around to the ninja monk.

"It's quite alright, young master. I appreciate your attempts but it is as the Lord Daimyo says, we are an old system." He bows to the table and takes his leave.

Ikkyu looks between him and his father. He clenches his teeth and goes out with the monk.

"I'm so sorry, Elder Bansai. I was sure they were beginning to understand how important your duties are. And yet they do this on the very same day as the meeting." He balls his hand into a fist. "Despicable."

"Anger will lead us nowhere, young Ikkyu. We will continue doing the work we are meant to do, whatever may come our way." The elder man has a serene calmness to his voice that naturally puts Ikkyu at ease.

From behind his mask, Yamato looks on. He remembers his mission with Team 7 that led them to work together with the Fire Temple's ninja monks before they were nearly all killed by the Akatsuki. It saddens him to see them treated this way, but speaking up right now would accomplish nothing.

The Daimyo speaks up from behind his fan. "Say, that Fire Temple place… One of them used to serve under us, didn't he?"

"Yes, my Lord. Chiriku of the Twelve Guardian Ninja."

"Hmm. I think I remember him…" He tries to wrack his brain.

Over at the Rice Paddy's side is a similar seating arrangement. On one side are the advisors and on the other- the shinobi. Except with them, there's a young beautiful woman sitting next to the Daimyo, dressed in astonishing fancy robes. Her brown hair is cut in the hime style- fringe covering her forehead, sidelocks reaching her cheeks, while the rest of her hair reaches her lower back. She seems to often get glances from the other men around the room. The place next to her deliberately has to seat, so she wouldn't have anyone seated next to her besides her father.

On the other side are the ninja from the Land of Rice Paddies, one of the few clans who remained in opposition of Orochimaru- the Fuma clan. One is a large man with straight dark hair reaching just under his jawline. Another is a young girl with long orange hair, leaning on the table with her elbow. An older woman sitting next to her, with black hair also in the hime cut, pushes her elbow off.

"Sasame, behave yourself." She says in a hushed voice.

"I know, Kotohime." Sasame grumbles.

The doors open once again, with every member of the Land of Woods delegation entering.

A woman with long dark hair and a colourful haori, accompanied by a panther- Kuga Tsumetogi and Noraneko. A man dressed in a plain shinobi uniform- Mizushi Osui. A man dressed in their equivalent of the ANBU, sporting a demonic mask with three horns- Takeshi Tokage. A tall red-haired woman- Kikyo, whose last name is known only by a select few to be Uzumaki.

Behind them walks a man dressed in the standard shinobi gear and flak jacket of the Hidden Mountain Village. His uniform doesn't have any variants like the people who entered before him, with his most distinct feature being his short red hair and a scar that runs from his nose to his jaw. Despite his somewhat ordinary appearance, he emanates an aura of power that's clearly felt by the shinobi in the room. He's unmistakably the leader of the Hidden Mountain- Kaidomaru, whose last name is also only known by a select few to be Uzumaki.

Once they and the advisors are seated, everyone waits with bated breath for the Land of Woods' Daimyo. An incredibly beautiful woman with pale skin and piercing dark eyes enters. Her long black hair sways behind her, catching light and shimmering as if made of silk. Her deep red lips form an alluring smile that captivates every man in the room. With her practiced and dignified walk, she takes her seat at the end of the table.

Everyone is now present.

* * *

Outside, Ikkyu and Bansai have reconvened with two other ninja monks of the Fire Temple, dressed in the exact same white robe and grey sash, with shaved heads. One is an older man with a scar on his head, while the other is younger in his late teens and a bandaged right arm.

The young monk clicks his tongue and kicks a rock. "Damn it! They just threw us out? Just like that? After all those promises?"

Ikkyu looks apologetic. "I'm sorry. I took it upon myself to get the Fire Temple to the status it deserves and yet…"

"Oh, no, you're not to blame." The young monk gets flustered. Perhaps his outburst was taken the wrong way. "It's those guys who should be sorry for wasting our time!" He points at the main building.

Elder Bansai reaches out and lowers the young monk's hand. "Pointing fingers and blaming will achieve nothing, young Sora. Have patience."

The scarred monk begins making his way to leave the palace. "There's nothing we can do. Causing a scene would only hurt us even more. We'll bide our time, Sora."

"Either way, you're still my guests so you're free to stay as long as you wish. I might be asking too much, but please, stay for a bit longer."

"I intended to, anyway. There are still things I wish to do while in the capital.

Sora looks downtrodden. Before exiting the palace, he takes one final look outside the window and to a bridge that leads to the main meeting chamber, he spots a person with very distinct blonde hair walking along it and headed inside. He squints his eyes as if to make sure he's seeing what he's really seeing. "Is that… Naruto?"

* * *

With everyone seated, an official from the Land of Fire steps forward and begins reading from a scroll. "Commencing with the negotiations for-"

Another official enters the door and kneels. "My Lords. Naruto Uzumaki has arrived."

The people visibly stir at the mention of the name. The elderly man at the Fire table smiles, the people at the Woods table are intrigued although for different reasons that one would assume on the surface. The orange haired girl at the Rice Paddies table, Sasame, stands up overly excited but is quickly pulled down by Kotohime next to her.

After a few moments, Naruto strides in, bows to everyone, and goes to sit at the Fire table, next to Shikamaru.

The Nara leans over and whispers. "Just barely."

"Look, I literally just got here, gimme a break."

The two friends bump fists under the table.

The official reading from the scroll clears his throat. "Then let us commence."

The meeting dragged on for longer than most would have liked, with the Land of Rice Paddies listing their demand and desires for what would happen and how they'd be treated once the merging was complete, and the other two nations finding compromises and listing how their land would utilize the Land and its resources and what benefits would be given. As expected, Naruto was put on display a lot, being a big bargaining chip for the Land of Fire as the one who saved the shinobi world.

After about an hour of talking, it's the Land of Woods' turn again to address the Land of Rice Paddies. "Lord Daimyo, the Land of Fire makes bold claims of your security under them, but let us not forget that it is their fault that we find ourselves in this situation to begin with!"

The man gestures to the Fire table. "It was the Third Hokage's failure to deal with the criminal Orochimaru that lead to the previous Daimyo being strong armed into handing over territory which plunged the Land of Rice Paddies to ruin, and then it was the Fifth Hokage's failure to deal with the criminal Sasuke Uchiha that lead to him killing Orochimaru and leaving the land to its own devices for so long! They have proven time and time again to be untrustworthy and incapable, and I see no reason for them to be trusted yet again, do you?"

All of the tables murmur, the Fire table especially being pressed against the wall. They expected such points to be brought up, but their next argument would need to be well put together.

Shikamaru sees his friend clenching a fist. "Don't do anything stupid."

"I know, dammit. I hate them bad mouthing Gramps and Granny like that." On a deeper level, he knew those people had a point and the Land of Rice Paddies would have every right to hold them accountable for negligence, but it still hurt hearing his closest people talked about that way.

Before a counter-argument could be made, the old man from the Fire Daimyo's side stands up. "Lords and Ladies, if I may." He's given permission to speak. "Before I begin, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Awaji Uzumaki."

Practically no one hides their shock at hearing the name, particularly Naruto and Tsunade, and oddly enough the leader of the Hidden Mountain, Kaidomaru, nearly jumps out of his seat. " _What? That old man is…"_

"A name everyone seems to recognize. I do share it with one other person in the room. I wish to speak to you not as a member of the Land of Fire's council, but as a member of the former Land of Whirlpools and the Hidden Whirlpool Village. As one person who lost his land, to another." He bows to the Rice Paddies table.

"When our nation and village were brought to ruin, many of us sought shelter in the Land of Fire and have been welcomed with open arms. We were afraid of speaking up and making our true identities known, so we hid our Uzumaki name , ashamed as I am to say." He closes his eyes in contemplation. "We have been shown the utmost courtesy and familiarity, and I can guarantee on my name as an Uzumaki which I now proudly call myself once more thanks to the Land of Fire and Lord Daimyo, that no one of your people will be treated harshly and that you will receive everything a man of your noble status deserves. I ask that we rebuild what was once ours together for that is how any of us truly survive." He bows and takes his seat.

He turns to Tsunade and Naruto, who share a look between each other, and gives a warm smile.

The meeting goes for another hour before it's dismissed for the day. A decision is not reached and the Rice Paddies' people wish to discuss matters further between themselves. The negotiations are to continue the following day.

As the Fire Table prepares their things to free the room, Naruto walks over to Awaji.

"Hey, old man."

Awaji looks at the young man from top to bottom, his smile never leaving his face. He places a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I know you've questions, my boy, and I may have the answers, but that conversation will happen soon. For now, have patience."

He bows to the Hidden Leaf shinobi and takes his leave. Naruto looks like he's not happy with having to wait, but Tsunade calls him to leave it for now.

Before they can go, Sasame quickly runs over to them. "Naruto!" She's waving enthusiastically up until she stops right in front of him. "Hey!"

"Oh, uhh, hi?" He looks visibly puzzled.

Sasame's enthusiasm dwindles after some moments of confusion. "You… don't remember me?"

"What? No, of course I do, uhh, you're…"

Sasame huffs and crosses her arms, expecting a light bulb to switch on.

Tsunade taps her foot. "Naruto, have you broken some poor girl's heart already? Does Hinata know about this?"

He flips around, flustered. "No, of course not! We just met when I was travelling with Pervy Sage and- … Ah." A lightbulb clicked. He turns back to the girl. "Sasame?"

She beams again. "Yup! So you _do_ remember."

"Wow. You've changed so much, I didn't even recognize you. What's it been, like 5 years?"

"Yeah, and lucky for me, you still have the same goofy face. Although it sounds like you've really made a name for yourself."

Naruto rubs the back of his head. "Hah, yeah,a lot's happened since then."

"Hey, how about we catch up once things settle down with everything? Hinazuki and Kotohime won't say it, but they're really excited to see you again, too!"

"Yeah, for sure!"

With that, Sasame skips back to her clan and they leave the hall.

* * *

The entire envoy from the Hidden Leaf is making their way down the corridor to leave the palace, and head for the overly expensive inn they're staying in. Shizune had almost immediately taken off her cap and unzipped her uniform.

"So, where's Hinata, anyway?" As usual, Shikamaru has his hands in his pockets.

"She stayed out in the garden with Kotori."

Everyone looks confused. "With who?"

Naruto realizes that no one actually knows about their new family situation. This should be … fun. And maybe a bit weird. "Ah, well, you'll see." The others look between each other and can't help but wonder what Naruto's gotten himself into.

On their way out, they spot the ninja monks from the Fire Temple along with the businessman's son, still present around the premises. Naruto reminisces of the last time he saw them and the tragedy that happened.

Ikkyu and the younger monk make their way for the Leaf shinobi.

The monk has his hands within his sleeves. "Naruto, long time, no see."

Naruto stiffens. Oh no. Another person he's forgotten about. To begin with he never interacted much with the monks so how would he remember them?

The monk sees Naruto's dilemma written all over his face. "Yeah, I didn't think you'd recognize me. It's me, Sora." He brushes over his bald head.

"What? Sora? Seriously? But your hair..." Yet another person from his past he didn't expect to meet. This has been an odd day

"Hah, yeah, I've been continuing my training at the Temple. I still have a lot to learn but… I finally feel I've found my place, you know?"

"I think I know what you mean, yeah." Naruto extends an arm and grins. It's then that Sora sees his bandaged right hand reminiscent to his own bandaged hand.

Sora smirks and grasps Naruto's hand. Not a handshake, but more a brotherly clasp. "So I was that big an impact on you that you bandaged your hand in my image? I must say I'm honoured."

"What're you talking about, only way I'd be influenced by you is if I started losing all the time."

Sora and Naruto, still gripping their hands, pull the other closer to themselves, butting heads.

"You wanna say that again?"

"Did you lose your hearing along with your hair?"

"Why you little…"

The two of them burst out into laughter and let go.

"It's good to see you again, Sora."

"You, too."

Tsunade places her hands on her hips with a lightly playful smirk. "Well if it isn't my would-be assassin."

Sora stiffens and goes to bow. "My deepest apolo-" He's stopped by a hand on his head.

"Don't even think about it. Water under the bridge."

Ikkyu steps forth and extends a hand to Naruto. "Pardon the intrusion. I'm Ikkyu Madoka, heir to the Madoka Trading Company. I'm a big fan."

"Hey, I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"Oh, I'm well aware. I keep an ear out for promising shinobi and you're the most promising of them all."

Naruto gets flustered. "Oh, wow, I dunno if I'd go that far. So the two of you are here together? How do you know each other?"

"I've taken it upon myself to aid the shinobi who need aid in these changing times. There's many who doubt and mistrust and I aim to change all of that, starting with rebuilding the Fire Temple's status and helping spread their message."

"That's a really awesome goal. I'm sure many will appreciate it. I plan on helping whoever I meet along my way to becoming Hokage, too! So we'll bump into each other on our paths, for sure."

"I hope so, but for now I'm afraid we must take our leave. We've other matters to attend to."

Ikkyu and Sora take their leave and go to join Elder Bansai and the other monk. Before going out of earshot, Sora turns his head. "We'll catch up later."

* * *

Inside, Sasame is looking for the Daimyo's daughter who'd split off from the group. She'd excused herself and requested some time to herself but the Daimyo got worried and ordered the Fuma clan to find her. They'd warned not to leave her to her own devices in a foreign land given her importance, but she has a way of getting what she wants from father dearest.

She spots her at the end of a long corridor, but making his way toward the princess from another corridor is the leader of the Hidden Mountain. Sasame raises a brow and hastens her step, hand at the ready to draw a weapon if needed. Kaidomaru moves his hand behind his back to take something from his pouch. Sasame Flickers forward.

She quickly makes her way to the princess and bows. "Lady Mikoto." From the corner of her eyes, she keeps watching Kaidomaru.

He eyes the young shinobi and clicks his tongue. He bows politely as one would to the Daimyo and his family, and turns for another corridor.

"Miss Sasame, I asked to be left alone!"

"My deepest apologies, my Lady. Lord Daimyo calls for your presence."

The princess puffs her cheeks. "Very well, then." and they walk toward the section of the palace dedication to housing them for their stay. Sasame keeps looking out for Kaidomaru in case he gets close again.

* * *

The Hidden Mountain's shinobi are observing the outside still within the castle, focusing their attention on the Leaf shinobi. They don't even hear Kaidomaru join them as he's suddenly right next to them.

"So, what's your impression, Kikyo?" He addresses the tall red-head.

Itsu, or rather Kikyo, is slightly startled but tries not to let it show. "I still get used to having a new name." She gathers herself and looks back out the window. "I'll be honest, up until he got here, I didn't think these seals would work. He was in the room with us but didn't recognize my or Mizushi's chakra."

Kaidomaru smirks. "My seals are anything but ordinary. Perhaps now you understand just how much."

Mizushi removes his tri-horned oni mask. "And how is the plan progressing?"

"As it should. There's no need for you to worry. Put your faith in me as you always have."

* * *

The Leaf ninja find their way in the vast gardens of the Daimyo's Palace. Following the path, they see Hinata sitting in the grass surrounded by peacocks. Besides her is an official from the palace, presumably to stand guard, and a little girl.

"Hinata, Kotori!" Naruto calls out to them.

The girl sees him and rushes over, holding a very long peacock feather in her hand which waves in the wind like a scarf. Hinata follows her in a more relaxed.

Kotori hugs him by the leg. "Dad! I made friends with the peacocks and made a feather! Although it's really big so it takes a lot of chakra, but look." She drops the feather and forms the Bird seal, ready to mold some chakra and create a feather.

Meanwhile, everyone's jaw dropped to the ground the moment this girl addressed Naruto of all people as 'Dad'. They look as if they want to ask questions but aren't sure where to begin.

Naruto places a hand on her head, interrupting her focus. "Don't you think you ought to say 'hello' first?" He motions to the people behind him with his thumb.

"Oh, sorry." She looks slightly abashed before bowing to them. "I'm Kotori Uzumaki."

"Lady Tsunade, everyone, it's so good to see you again." Hinata comes closer and smiles warmly.

"So… who wants to explain?" Before Tsunade could receive an answer, she adds. "Actually, Hinata, you explain."

"Oi…" Naruto hurt. I mean, he knows they're right but it still hurt.

"Oh, that's right. We never actually told anyone… Kotori is from Kusatsu Town. She was involved in everything that happened there. Once we resolved the issue, we stayed behind a while longer and adopted her."

"That's… okay, I wasn't expecting something like this to happen." Shizune dabs her forehead. "I mean, I knew you two would get close but to start a family so fast?"

Shikamaru playfully jabs his friend on the shoulder. "When I told you that one day we'd have students and kids of our own to take care of, you took those words to heart, huh?"

Naruto laughs. "Haha, yeah, we weren't exactly planning on something like this happening, either, but surprises happen."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Kotori." Tsunade leans down to greet the child. "I hope you've been taking good care of these two. They're very precious to us."

Kotori puts her hands on her hips and puffs out her chest. "They're a handful but I'm managing."

Everyone laughs, now feeling a bit more at ease, and they go to their inn along with the apparent new family.

* * *

Over at the Madoka estate, Ikkyu and his father have returned home. The ninja monks, still being official guests, are staying in a different wing of the manor. The elder Madoka takes off his cloak and a servant takes it from him. Another servant tends to Ikkyu.

Stepping further inside, the older Madoka addresses his son without even turning to him. "Your little project was rejected. What do you intend to do now?"

Ikkyu grips the hem of his robe. "I won't stop. There's something fundamentally wrong between the relationship of the citizens of the Land of Fire and the shinobi. And even deeper than that, the relationship between the citizens themselves. I _will_ change that."

"This isn't something that can happen with good intentions. To change that, you would need to rise high in the ranks. Council, or even Daimyo."

"Then I will. I'll build my influence and fight my way to become Daimyo."

Mr Madoka glances from the corner of his eyes "Then you'd best get to it." and walks up the stairs to the second floor.

* * *

Over at the Koukan Inn the Leaf ninja are staying, Naruto, Hinata, and Kotori were shown to their room already and everyone got a table to have dinner at.

The inn is one of the fanciest ones in the capital as would be fit for people of their status. Even with her years of traveling, Tsunade never stayed in places like this, mostly because she was always in debt. In a certain way, being pampered feels nice.

The trio sit down with the rest of them. It takes Naruto a moment but he notices someone he didn't see before.

Naruto jumps back in surprise. "Wait, Captain Yamato, you're here, too?"

Yamato sighs. "Yes, Naruto. I was the one in the ANBU mask."

"Oh…" He rubs the back of his head in embarrassment.

During dinner, the group shares stories while Kotori listens on with interest in meeting her parents' friends. Naruto and Hinata give detailed information, or as detailed as they can, about the sudden emergence of these Great Beasts that even Kurama and Gyuki are worried about. On the other side, they talk of the missions that have been given out and how the foreign ninja have been fairing while staying in the Hidden Leaf. Some adjusted better than others but overall it's been going well.

Tsunade downs another drink, her cheeks ever so slightly reddened. "Like keeping peace wasn't hard on its own, we gotta deal with whoever's decided to mess with the Uzumaki seals. Damn those bastards."

"Oi, Granny, careful how you talk around Kotori!" Somehow Naruto ends up being the adult in this exchange.

"Oh, she's fine! She's gotta start learning at some point."

The girl looks between the two of them, a bit confused as to who everyone is exactly. "So are you my new grandma?"

Tsunade chokes on her drink. "Hah, no way, kid. And besides, I'm the Hokage, you know, leader of the village, I'm not anybody's grandma."

"Oh." She looks a bit dejected and apologetic that she got it wrong. Last thing she wanted to do was insult someone.

The Hokage stiffens on seeing the girl's expression and tries to brighten her up again. "But, y'know, I guess I could take you under my wing and be your grandma."

Shizune fills her drink. "Well, in a way, you and Naruto _are_ related."

Naruto puts on a comical questioning expression. "What? How are me and her even slightly related?"

Shikamaru sighs. "Don't you know, Naruto? Lady Tsunade's grandfather is the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju-"

"Well, of course I know that! I even fought with him in the Fourth War, remember?"

"Let me finish, you knucklehead. Her grandfather is the First Hokage and her grandfather is Lady Mito Uzumaki, the first jinchuriki of the Nine-Tai- I mean Kurama. We studied this in the Academy."

Hinata meekly speaks up from next to him. "I thought you knew."

"Hold on. For real? For real real?" Naruto props himself on his knees and leans way over the table to get as close to Tsunade as he can. "Granny, so you actually ARE my granny? Why didn't you say anything?"

She pushes him back. "First off, I'm not your granny. Something… distant cousin or something, I don't know. And I didn't say anything because it never really mattered. And it still doesn't."

"I just…" He clenches his fists, still leaning over. "I always thought I was alone. That I didn't have a family. But it turns out I did." Naruto feels a tug from both his sides. Hinata places a hand over his and that puts him at ease. From his other side, Kotori is tugging at his clothes.

Tsunade calmly looks on. "And you do now." She places her cup on the table. "Look, Naruto, you remember what I was like when we first met. I was barely ready to be myself, let alone anyone's family. But you were already surrounded by loving friends and teachers. You didn't need me and you still don't."

Naruto sits back in his position and puts a hand around Hinata and pulls Kotori closer into a hug. "You're wrong about that, Granny. I may have found a family but you're still precious to me. That makes you my family, too, Uzumaki or not." He flashes a grin.

Tsunade looks to him for a moment and slams her cup on the table and stands up. "What do you think you're doing, getting sentimental like that? I'm off to bed, you're getting on my nerves." She goes to leave and Shizune scurries on after her.

"Lady Tsunade, wait!" The aid catches up and notices a tear welling up in her mentor's eye.

The Hokage brushes away the tear with a thumb. "That dumb kid."

* * *

Somewhere in the much more run down part of the capital, a young boy no more than 7-8 years old, hides behind a corner, keeping a close watch on a nearby stall, the baker packing his leftover bread for the evening and taking them inside a building behind. The boy places a cloth over his silvery hair, long enough to reach down past his cheeks, clearly not taken care of in a while. He rolls up his leg sleeves, his clothes ragged and worn out.

Once the clerk is inside, the boy runs up and grabs a loaf of bread. He tries to get another one a bit further on the stall but hears a voice call out from inside. "Hey! Get outta here!" He runs out and the boy makes a break for it.

"Get back here, thief!"

The boy dashes and darts between the alleyways, the older baker on his heels. He tries to shove crates and cans and whatever people had left lying around. This doesn't seem to work. He's able to keep a lead but doesn't look like he'll manage for long.

Desperate, he notices a wooden fence with planks either broken, rotten off, or twisted, creating an opening for him to slip through. He's thankful nobody cared enough to fix it. He slides through but it looks like it'd be big enough for the baker, who's a bit more exhausted and sweaty now. The boy forms hand seals and weaves his chakra.

" **Crystal Style: Crystal Wall"**

A semi-translucent screen appears in front of the fence, blocking the hole. He continues to run, hearing the exasperated man on the other side give up on his chase, unable to climb over the newly appeared wall.

The boy takes detours a while more, just in case he's still being followed, and eventually makes his way to a rundown shack, barely holding itself together. The roof is in patches, the door is on its hinges and has a cloth in front of it which seems more reliable than the door itself, the windows are barred with the actual glass being long gone.

He makes his way inside the 2 room shack with the bare basic amenities and furnishing. He enters the second room where a woman is lying on a straw bed. She's extremely weakened and unnaturally thin, her sunken in skin much paler than it's ever been. Her silvery hair is dirty and in strands. She weakly turns her head to see the young boy walking in, loaf of bread in hand.

Her voice is barely a whisper. "Yokumaru. Where did you get that?"

"It's fine, Mama. Just eat up, then I'll wash your hair." Yokumaru runs his fingers through his mother's dried hair. He places a hand on the back of her head and helps her get up.

"I can do it. Please…" She places a hand on his cheek. "Don't do anything rash."

He holds her hand. "I'll keep you safe, Mama. Whatever it takes, I'm gonna be strong."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NAME MEANINGS
> 
> Awaji Uzumaki (うずまき アワジ, Uzumaki Awaji) = named after Awaji Island, Japan. It's connected to Naruto city via the Great Naruto Bridge under which are the Naruto Whirlpools. The titular character and manga are named after them.
> 
> Mikoto (ミコト, Mikoto) = 'Highness'
> 
> Yokumaru (ヨクマル, Yokumaru) = his name will make more sense once his last name is revealed
> 
> TRIVIA
> 
> Sasame and the Fuma clan are from the 'Land of Rice Fields Investigation Mission' arc (Naruto ep.136-141)
> 
> Sora and the ninja monks are from the 'Twelve Guardian Ninja' arc (Naruto Shippuden ep.54-71)
> 
> Ikkyu Madoka is from the Boruto timeline as the Land of Fire's Daimyo


	13. Be Strong II

**BE STRONG II**

In the morning, Kotori's training continues. Surprisingly enough, there's a private garden of sorts connected to each room that visitors can use to relax or in the case of shinobi, to train. Naruto and Kotori are currently sparring and training her taijutsu. She's able to leap higher and further than before and deliver kicks mid-air, although Naruto blocks them with ease.

From the inside of the room, the original Naruto, Hinata, and Kakashi watch on.

"So that's what she's capable of." Kakashi scratches his chin through his mask. "She's quite good, considering she's so new at this."

Naruto beams with pride. "Yeah, she's really good at picking things up. She's a natural! At this rate, she'll catch up to kids her age in no time!"

Hinata smiles. "Although there are cases where kids have become Chunin when they were even younger than her." She turns to Kakashi.

"Yeah, well, I'm a bit of an exceptional case."

A bead of sweat drops from Naruto's forehead. "Kakashi-sensei, did you just call yourself exceptional?"

The training in front of them intensifies with Kotori becoming more and more aggressive. Naruto's Shadow Clone gives instructions with each movement or each hit she delivers.

"You're just tiring yourself out. If you can hit me, then hit me, but don't spin around and flail your arms." He catches one of her wayward punches. "Or this happens." And lets her go. They resume the spar.

Kotori goes in and delivers a series of kicks. Naruto tries to grab her but she pushes herself away. Mid-air, she forms the Bird seal.

" **Ninja Art: Feather Curtain"**

Dozens and dozens of condor feathers surround Naruto in an attempt to blind him. She braces herself and begins weaving a more complex set of signs.

Kakashi has a surprised look on his… eyes. "That girl. She has a kekkei genkai?"

Hinata does. "Apparently it's called 'Aviary' and belongs to a dead clan. Lord Raikage found details on it from years past."

Naruto's Clone rushes out and stops her before she can finish weaving chakra.

"That jutsu's not bad but it's still not enough. You need something more if it's gonna work as a distraction. You can't give me enough time to come after you, so either stop me or trick me."

Hinata calls out. "Kotori, try sparrow feathers. They're smaller and more difficult to ignore."

Kotori does as instructed and uses her Feather Curtain again, this time with the much smaller feathers. Naruto bursts out, but as expected, the much smaller objects get in his eyes and even his mouth a little causing him to spit out plumage. However, she hasn't stopped using the Bird seal. Some of the feathers twitch and wiggle while falling and begin rushing toward Naruto.

" **Ninja Art: Feather Kunai"**

The stab at Naruto's flak jacket but not enough to cause serious damage. The speed and impact wasn't as much as it should be.

Naruto stops his movement and plucks the feathers off of himself. "Looks like going from the Curtain to the Kunai is still difficult."

Kotori nabs a sparrow feather. "Yeah. If I use one, I can't make them become the other. I think the chakra I need to use is different or something."

"Maybe, but you're able to do it a little. So just keep at it! It's a good combo. How about we stop for now? Hinata wanted to walk around the city for a bit. You up for that?"

Kotori beams with joy. "Yeah!"

Before she can head off, Naruto stops her. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

She skids and turns around. "Oh yeah." She smiles, embarrassed and extends her hand, only her index and middle finger outstretched. Naruto does the same and they lock fingers in the Unison Sign.

Only then does she run over to the real Naruto and Hinata as the Shadow Clone disperses. She runs up and gives them a hug. "Let's go!"

Hinata leans down and cleans some of the dirt gathered on her. "Not until you take a bath."

The girl grumbles.

Kakashi chuckles from under his mask and places a hand on her head, ruffling her hair. "Your Mom and Dad know what's best."

"I know, Uncle Kakashi." She wrangles free and goes to the bath. The faster she gets it done, the faster they can go out.

The three watch on as the girl prepares

Kakashi places a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Minato-sensei would be proud."

Naruto gives a light smile. "Thanks. That means a lot."

* * *

Yokumaru's been up for a while now, doing whatever cleaning he can do to help his mother be at ease. She's still sleeping and thrashes and turns from time to time, her illness not making things easy for her. He prepares what little food he was able to scrounge for when she wakes up.

He swiftly turns around when he hears a clacking from the other room, something hitting the wooden floor. He goes to check and sees a man inside. Dressed MUCH too well for this part of town, in very fancy robes and shawl draped around his shoulders. He walks with a fancy black cane decorated with a very intricate golden head of a dragon. On his ring finger is an equally fancy ring with an emblem carved into it.

Yokumaru knows this man all too well and he hates him from the bottom of his heart. A loan shark who his father took money from and died while trying to earn it back. Ijou Keiji. And two of his cronies standing behind him.

"Get out." Yokumaru hisses.

"Is that any way to treat your guest, Yokumaru? It would appear your father didn't teach you manners before his untimely demise." His voice makes Yokumaru feel sick to his core.

The boy lunges for Keiji, bellowing a warcry but one of the goons simply swats him away. He lands on the ground, a stinging on his face from where he was hit.

"Tsk, tsk. You still don't understand your position. As long as you owe us money, your life is ours, boy."

"Please, don't hurt him." A pale skeleton-thin woman props herself against the doorframe. "I'll pay you back just please leave him be."

"As if you're able to do anything in your state, dear Yoi." Ijou smirks mockingly. "Your boy has a very special chakra and I'll utilize him however I see fit, since your husband's no longer around." He clicks his tongue. "We can't even sell you, looking like that."

Yokumaru grows angrier at the man for talking about his mother like that, but one of the goons stands between them.

Ijou looks to the boy. "There's some important VIPs from the Hidden Leaf staying in the Koukan Inn. You know the place, the most expensive inn in the city. Go through their belongings and take everything you can carry."

"And then you'll leave us?"

"It will be a start." Ijou throws some coins on the ground. "Consider this a prepayment."

He turns and takes his leave, his goons giving Yokumaru one final scare before they follow.

Yokumaru slams his fist over the coins.

* * *

Naruto, Hinata, and Kotori are walking through the streets of the capital, going from store to store, showing their adoptive daughter everything they can and everything she's missed. They've been fairly focused on shinobi training so far and haven't really given her the chance to just… be a kid. She's bought a good deal for clothes for herself and some various trinkets and accessories, such as a new hairband to tie her ponytail with. Some things they had to say 'no' to since they're going to be constantly moving around for the foreseeable future so they have to be careful what baggage they carry. Kotori was saddened but understanding.

While walking past the various stores and stalls, she sees a family and their young son walking past. The boy seems to be tired and reaches up to his dad who chuckles. "Alright, alright." and picks him and rests his son on his shoulder. They continued walking together.

Kotori smiles at the sight of a loving family but it also saddens her a bit. She lived so long in the orphanage that she missed out on moments like that with a family of her own. Now she's a bit too old for memories like that.

From the corner of his eyes, Naruto sees where her gaze leads to and he can safely guess why. It's the exact same thoughts he's had so many times in the past. He let's go of her hand and before she or Hinata can wonder why, he squats down and lifts Kotori over his head and onto his shoulder.

"Naruto?"

"Wha- Dad, what're you doing?"

"Oh, nothing much."

Kotori wraps her hands around his head and buries her head in his temple. "This is embarrassing." She protests but on her hidden face is a wide smile.

Hinata smiles at her boyfriend and holds his hand as the family continues walking together.

They go on like this for a while, with Kotori looking over more stores and Naruto and Hinata buying some necessary items. Kotori lets herself down from Naruto's shoulder to look around, running frantically from one place to another.

While looking at some necklaces, she sees a figure being watchful behind a corner. A young boy around his age with silver hair and ragged clothes. He seems to be ducking in and out and carefully watching the clerk. When the shop owner has his attention turned to another customer, the boy dashes forward and grabs a handful of necklaces and earrings and makes a run for it before the clerk even realizes.

Kotori runs after Yokumaru.

It takes Naruto and Hinata a few moments but they realize their daughter is no longer around. "... Kotori?"

In the alleyway, Yokumaru puts everything he took in a sack and ties it to his waist. He turns around to see a girl his age chasing after. She's actually keeping up with his faster speed; is she not a normal girl?

"Hey! Wait! You gotta give those back!"

Yokumaru turns around and slams his hands on the ground.

" **Crystal Style: Crystal Wall"**

A transparents glass-like structure juts out from the ground, blocking the way. That should stop her. He turns to continue making a run for it but her footsteps don't stop. He looks back just long enough to see her jump over his jutsu, forming the Bird seal. So she isn't a normal girl, after all.

" **Ninja Art: Feather Kunai"**

Two large condor feathers materialize around her and shoot forward to the boy. She's actually aiming in front of him to try and get him to stop but his movement just increases and Flickers in the same way she's seen her mom and dad. She continues falling and tries to land on her feet but her momentum is a bit high and she ends up rolling on the ground.

She stands up and tries to weave hand signs but before she can get halfway through, another crystalline structure appears under her. He's faster at weaving seals than her. She jumps forward and manages to avoid the Crystal Wall.

She turns the corner to go after him, but he's gone. She continues running in the direction she saw him last but is unable to find him. At that moment, Naruto and Hinata, Sage Mode and Byakugan activated, land next to her.

Naruto very lightly grips her head. Not in a way would hurt her in any way but is still annoying. "Kotori, you can't just run off like that in a foreign city."

"But… that boy stole things!"

Hinata leans down. "You're right, stealing is wrong. But what if you got lost and we couldn't find you?"

"But you did find me, with your cool eyes! I know you can find me, so I'm safe." She smiles in a way that makes Hinata forget she intended to scold her about what she did.

"Come on, let's go after him. I have his chakra."

Hinata takes Kotori and they Flicker away to where they sense the boy ran to.

They don't immediately intercept him, even though they easily can. They wait and watch from the rooftops until they see him enter a barely-holding together shack. They hop to the ground and enter.

The wood creeks as they step inside. They're ninja and trained to be silent, but their training can't fix rotted wood. Yokumaru flips around and looks frightened as he sees the girl, now accompanied by 2 adults. He notices their headbands. Hidden Leaf. No way, could these be the VIPs that scumbag Ijou mentioned?

He nervously looks around knowing he can't escape.

Naruto and Hinata also look around but for different reasons. They never would've expected this boy's living conditions to be this terrible.

Naruto steps forward and the boy takes a defensive stance and begins weaving chakra. Whoever he is, he's received training.

"Hey, you know you can't take those, right?"

"Why do you care? You're not from here, right? That guy won't miss these, it won't matter to him!"

"That doesn't make it right. You have to return it."

"No. You can't make me." Yokumaru tries to position himself in a way that he won't let them get to his mom, but this place is small. He doesn't have anywhere to move.

"Yokumaru?" A weak voice comes from behind him and his mom limps to the door. Just the simple act of getting up and walking to the door has exhausted her. "Who…" She sees the people in their home. "Ninja? Why?"

Some jewellery falls out of Yokumaru's bag, clanging on the floor. Yoi looks down. "Yokumaru. Please… tell me you didn't."

The boy grips his pouch. "I do what I have to to help you. I won't let anyone stop me. Not Keiji, not ninja."

Naruto and Hinata look on with mild shock at the woman's deteriorated condition. Kotori thought she was doing the right thing by chasing after this boy but… this is where he lives? And is that woman his mom? Is this why he stole? She grabs her Dad's shirt. She doesn't want the boy to get in trouble.

Naruto looks down and sees her expression, and then looks at Hinata who also seems reluctant. He sighs and forms a single seal of his signature jutsu.

" **Shadow Clone"**

Another Naruto appears from a puff of smoke and he tosses his Clone a pouch of money. "Go pay for whatever was taken, and tell them the matter is over and settled."

Yokumaru and his mom Yoi look surprised.

Through painful breaths, she manages to ask. "Why… help us?"

"Because I don't like seeing people in trouble. Whatever you're going to do with those, it's for your mom, right? Take care of your family."

Yokumaru seems to grow angry. "We don't need you. You're just gonna use us just like Keiji. You do us a favour and then you trick us! I know how this works so get out!"

"No, that's not it at all!"

A voice comes from the front door. "What seems to be the matter?"

They all turn to see a man who only Yokumaru and Yoi recognize and Ijou Keiji and his goons behind him. Yokumaru looks on frightened.

"Have my son and wife been a bother?"

Yokumaru begins seeing red. This bastard. He's pretending to be his dad now?! He's never been this angry before.

Ijou walks in, standing between the Leaf ninja and the family. "Please accept my sincerest apologies for whatever has occurred."

Naruto takes a quick but detailed look at the man. His clothes are far too fancy. Even his cane looks like it costs more than this entire shack. And the expression on the boy and his mom's faces. It's a heavy mixture of fear and anger. This man isn't family. This looks like a complicated situation. Should they interfere? Can they?

"If you'll excuse me, I'd like to speak to them in private."

Naruto steps back. He knows he needs to do something but right now he can't. This isn't an issue of blasting your way through. "Yeah, we'll go."

The Leaf ninja walk out, feeling uneasy. Kotori looks back to the shack, concerned. Hinata still has her Byakugan active. She doesn't tell Naruto what she sees inside but the expression he sees on her face is one he'd never seen, one of pure rage. He squeezes his shoulder tightly.

* * *

Over at the palace, Sasame is keeping watch in front of Lady Mikoto's room, along with another of her Fuma comrades. She leaves him to guard the door as she walks along the corridor, checking through the windows.

Outside, just below Lady Mikoto's window, the Hidden Mountain's leader, Kaidomaru, seems to be lurking. He's acting inconspicuous but the location is definitely suspect. The Hidden Mountain, are they plotting Lady Mikoto's murder? Losing his daughter would definitely throw the Daimyo out of it. Or better yet, kidnap her? Hold her ransom and force the Land of Rice Paddies to merge with the Land of Woods?

She walks, knocks on the door, and excuses herself. Normally this would be unthinkable but they have their orders- protection comes before privacy. Being women, only Sasame and Kotohime were given permission to enter as they please. Inside, Lady Mikoto is standing near the window. Sasame runs in and urges her to step away.

"Miss Sasame, what's the meaning of this?"

"My apologies, Lady Mikoto. Please stay away from the windows, for your own safety."

Sasame steps in front of the window to make sure she's seen from below, and draws the curtains closed.

* * *

In another part of the palace, Naruto has already arrived in preparation for the meeting, with Hinata and Kotori remaining in the city. His look is somewhat distant, staring outside the windows, thoughts still going back to what they saw earlier.

Ikkyu walks by and sees him sulking. "Ah, Naruto." He walks closer.

He turns his head slightly. "Mr. Madoka."

"Please, call me Ikkyu. Is… something the matter?" He notices the mood.

Naruto looks out the window to the edge of the city, where the poor neighbourhoods are. "Say, Ikkyu. You said you wanted to bring shinobi the recognition they deserve, right? What recognition do we even deserve? How would that even happen?"

Ikkyu looks stunned. "Those are a lot of questions, all very difficult in their own right." He walks over next to Naruto at the window. "I believe the main issue lies in how us non-shinobi perceive shinobi. People always tell themselves that they're better just because shinobi are always at war and fighting and killing each other. Makes them feel like no matter what they do, they'll always be better than that since they're at least not actively kill each other right?"

Ikkyu leans on the window and sighs. "You probably haven't been to the poor part of the capital, but the people there… They don't live the best of lives, and we're the reason they don't. People are being starved and treated like dirt but that's all justified because… hey, at least we're not stabbing each other like those shinobi, right?"

He turns to Naruto. "I'm sorry. I know those are probably not things you wish to hear, but my point is- that view needs to change. I want to show people that shinobi are so much more than they believe and that they hold values just like anyone and have precious things they hold dear. But there are people actively fighting against me. First, I'll need to deal with them and prove them wrong, before I can prove that I'm right."

Naruto gives a light smile. "I see. That sounds really difficult."

"But worth every bit of it."

"I know this may be a stretch, but do you happen to know of a person named Keiji." She also adds a description of the signet ring she saw him wear, as did his two goons.

Ikkyu has a perplexed expression. "Ijou Keiji? Why would you know of someone like him?"

He explains what happened earlier and what they saw.

The young man looks conflicted. "I see. So that happened." He sighs and leans against the wall. "Ijou Keiji is one of the people I need to take down, one of the people who are determined to keep the poor people poor. I have suspicions of his wrongdoings but no concrete evidence. I'm sorry you had to see something like that." Ikkyu shows him a ring on his finger that looks vaguely similar to Keiji's but with a different emblem carved into it. "These rings are worn by nobles and wealthy merchants, and people working for them and who have their support also wear them as a show of allegiance. To think Keiji's just parading around..."

"I'm sorry to just drop this on you."

"No, it's quite alright. I'm thankful, actually. You've shown concern for the people there. That… eases my mind greatly. You are as good a man as the people say, Naruto Uzumaki." He gives a genuine smile. "I intend on doing something about it, that much I can guarantee you."

At this point, a man from the palace comes to get Naruto to the meeting.

"Until our next meeting." Ikkyu claps Naruto on the back "Don't let your mind stray far. Keep focused." and walks off, leaving the young shinobi to get to business.

* * *

It's later in the day and Hinata figures the meeting should be over soon. She's still out in the city with Kotori and they're starting to feel exploring this place would take a few days. She and Kotori are resting at a local park, a bit of a walk away from the center where the palace is.

Their minds are also filled with thoughts of Yokumaru's home and what happened after they left, so their mood isn't exactly the best.

They remain seated for a while, Kotori absent-mindedly conjuring feathers and sparrows. From the corner of her eyes, she spots the boy from earlier, sitting on the grass. Kotori immediately springs to her feet and runs off without saying a word, Hinata calls out to her and follows.

Yokumaru is sitting against a tree, receiving glances from the people walking through. He's not paying attention to any of them, though, until one of them stops right next to him. He's heard a lot of variations of insults and threats, he's been told to go away and not ruin the neighbourhood plenty of times. He looks up and sees Kotori.

Kotori is taken aback when she gets a closer look of his face, a dark bruise on his face. "Hey, are you…" She extends a hand to him but is swatter away.

"Go away." Odd, it's usually he who gets told that by others, not the other way around.

Kotori takes a step back.

Hinata approaches and sees his state. She leans down. "I can help you with that."

"Don't need your help. Don't need anyone's help."

"That's not true!" Kotori protests. "Everyone needs help sometime."

He looks them in the eyes. "Why would you even care, you're just a pampered ninja kid."

"That's not true at all! I'm an orphan, or I was until Mom and Dad adopted me. I grew up with a lot of kids and I don't like seeing them or anyone else get hurt." She extends a hand again and grins. "So I wanna help, like I was helped."

"Please, would you come with us, back to the Koukan Inn? I know this might be asking much, and you've no reason to trust us or believe us, but my boyfriend, he has a really big loving heart and I've come to share in his ideals. If at any point you decide you don't like us, you can go home." She extends a hand alongside Kotori's.

Yokumaru focuses on their hands. He looks up to Hinata. She said the Koukan Inn, and she's wearing Leaf shinobi gear. Then they ARE the VIPs Keiji mentioned. If nothing else, this might be the perfect opportunity. Rarely do your targets openly invite you in their homes. If they want to help, then they definitely can.

He takes their hands and stands up.

Kotori beams. "I'm Kotori Uzumaki, and this is my mom Hinata. What's your name?"

"Yokumaru. Yokumaru Kigatsu." The boy's looking down, his long hair covering his eyes.

Hinata smiles and places a hand on both of their backs, and Flickers away with them, going from rooftop to rooftop to the inn. Kotori has experienced this plenty of times but Yokumaru, even though he has training and can use ninjutsu a little bit, has never traveled at such speeds, never seen the city from this angle. If he didn't know how dark and dirty it is, he might fall in love with the view.

She sneaks them into the room and begins preparing by setting the bath and ordering food. Yokumaru looks a bit uncomfortable being in such a place.

"I know this isn't ideal for you, but please don't feel guilty. I'll do everything I can to make sure your mom gets something, too, alright? And you can take it home to her."

That seems to put his mind at ease and he opens up a bit. He cleans up, using fresher water than he'd seen in a while, and once he comes out, he's met by Kotori holding a fresh set of clothes which she shoves into his hands.

"Here, you can have these. You're a little shorter than me so they should fit. Don't worry, they're not frilly or girly or anything."

"What, no, I can't take these!" He pushes them but they're refused.

"Sure you can. Just keep holding then, say thank you, and then put them on. It's easy!" She knows that's not what he meant but she wasn't about to take them back. She and Hinata picked out ones that might better suit him while he was cleaning himself up.

He holds the clothes closely to himself and quietly says. "Thank you."

That's more than good enough for her, though. She smiles and skips out to let him get dressed. When he does, he's much cleaner, his hair is brushed back putting his natural dark red eyes on display. Hinata couldn't help but be reminded of Kurenai-sensei and her captivating eyes. To Kotori, because his hair is sticking up slightly, she couldn't help but liken him to a white bunny.

Hinata straightens his clothes and smiles. "You look wonderful."

The three of them continued to eat dinner, with Hinata setting some aside and placing them in a separate box.

"For your mom."

Yokumaru draws it closer and tries to bow his head to hide his smile. Hinata and Kotori smile, as well, seeing him in such a better mood than before.

Once finished with dinner, Yokumaru and Kotori watch out at the room's private garden. The girl speaks up, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Hey, that thing you did, with the glass wall. It's your jutsu, right? A kekkei what's-it?"

Yokumaru nods. "Yeah. My dad had it, too, and he taught me a bit before he…" He trails off. "I can't only use the Crystal Wall, though."

Hinata sits next to them. She doesn't need that sentence to be finished. "So now you're taking care of your mom?"

He nods. "Yeah. Dad took money from a really bad man and couldn't give it all back. So now I have to."

"I'm really sorry." She goes to place a hand on his shoulder for comfort but the moment she touches him, he recoils and scitters back from her.

Hinata looks on sorrowfully. The poor boy must have endured a lot. She stands up to give him some space and heads to one of the other rooms. "You can stay as long as you need to."

Yokumaru tries to change the subject and look at the girl. "You use a kekkei genkai, too, right?"

Kotori hops to her feet and forms the seals for her jutsu. "Yeah! I couldn't show it off earlier 'cause you were faster than me but I can do this." She finishes and in a curtain of feathers, an adolescent condor materializes. Her big mistake last time was that she summoned a larger than average adult, so making it a young one works best. It screeches and spreads its wings.

"That's really cool."

"Right? I'm still learning but I can do some cool stuff. Hey, you wanna spar? I'm really curious about your glass crystal thingy!"

"Ah, I don't think we should."

From the other room, Hinata calls out. "Kotori, could you come help me for a bit?"

"Alright!" She calls back and turns to Yokumaru "I'll be right back. You can rethink that spar in the meantime." and she hops over to help her mom with whatever she needs.

Left alone in the room, Yokumaru looks around. There are multiple bags left out in the open, boxes of items purchased from the city- jewellery, clothes, maybe even coin pouches somewhere. He clenches his fist, gripping onto the new clothes he was given. He looks down at the food box Hinata prepared. He doesn't want to do what Keiji wants him to do, but his mind keeps going back to his sickly mother.

Over in the other room, Kotori is unaware of what's happening but Hinata's keen hearing picks up on the shifting and moving. She closes her eyes, a frown on her face. The poor boy's made his choice. When finished with what she'd called Kotori over for, they enter the room they were in before.

Yokumaru is missing, and so are many of their things.

"Wha… he stole from us? But why?" Kotori looks heartbroken.

Hinata places a hand on her shoulders. "It's fine. They're just things. He can have them."

Outside, running for dear life with tears in his eyes, Yokumaru clutches to the items he'd managed to take from the room. He doesn't stop crying the entire way, and this time nobody stops him, because he actually looks like he belongs in these parts. He looks clean.

Reaching his home neighbourhood, Yokumaru stands in front of a house of ill repute (or good repute, depending on who you ask). He tells the guards his business and is lead through the back, where he can see from between the ajar doors half-naked women getting dressed.

Upstairs, he enters a door and is met by Ijou Keiji's top dogs, the man himself not present.

"Ya look different, kid." One of them pipes up.

He shifts back a little. "I stole some clothes while I was at it." He places the pouch of valuables on the table "I got you your things. Money, jewels, whatever they had."

He opens it up and inspects it. Rummaging through the items, he whistles. "Got some fancy shinies here." He looks up and squints his eyes. "Ya weren't followed, right, kid? Cause if you was…"

"I know. I wasn't. No one saw me enter or exit." Technically true. "I stayed at one of the hideouts to make 'em think that's where I was supposed to go. No one came after me."

The other dog laughs. "Ya sure got a knack for this, boi. Keep this up and you'll become the boss' favourite."

Yokumaru lowers his head. "May I leave?"

The two men have already stopped looking at him and are focusing on the loot. They wave him off. "Yeah, yeah. Go."

He leaves, his head still lowered. He walks like that the entire way home, picking up the food box and some cash he'd stashed away on the way to Keiji's place. He comes inside, with clean clothes and cooked food.

His mother is hunched over the table, eating whatever leftovers they had, weakly holding the wooden spoon. He walks to the table and places the box.

"Yokumaru?" She gets a good look at him. "Where did you get these clothes, what's this?"

"It's fine, mama. I got you food. Look." He pushes the box to her and opens it, but she pays no attention to it.

"Yokumaru, please." She places a thin hand on his cheek.

He starts crying. "I'm sorry, mom."

* * *

Over the quiet and solemn night, with some people suffering and many unaware of the wrongdoings that have occurred, a tremor shakes the centre of the city.

Loud explosions echo through the streets as large plumes of smoke fill the air.

The people cry out in a panic, looking to get away from the source.

The Daimyo's palace is under attack.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NAME MEANINGS
> 
> Ijou Keiji (ケイジ イオウ, Keiji Ijō)= from 'keijijou', meaning 'criminal'
> 
> Yokumaru Kigatsu (きがつ ヨクマル, Kigatsu Yokumaru) = from 'kigatsuyokunaru', meaning 'to feel more confident'. From 'kigatsuyokunaru' to 'kigatsu yokunaru' to 'Kigatsu Yokumaru'
> 
> Yoi Kigatsu (きがつ ヨイ, Kigatsu Yoi) = from 'kigatsuyoi', meaning 'strong heart'


	14. Be Strong III

**BE STRONG III**

The attendees at the meeting were completely oblivious as to what's about to happen.

Ordinarily, they'd have already gone home but negotiations ran longer than anticipated. Everyone's tired and annoyed and they're running in circles.

They're jolted awake but a quake. A loud explosion puts every single shinobi on full alert.

"Lords!" A man runs into the room, panicking. "We're under attack! There's hundreds of them!"

Tsunade slams her fist on the table. "And how exactly did they even get this close?!"

The wall behind them cracks. They turn their attention to it just in time to see it implode, an explosion sending bits of it flying toward the Fire table.

Just as the shinobi are about to strike to protect the officials, they're surrounded by chains. Semi-translucent golden chains created from chakra.

" **Adamantine Sealing Chains"**

Everyone follows the chains to their origin- Awaji Uzumaki. They surround everyone and create a barrier that protects them from the rock, which slam into the barrier and fall, leaving them safe.

Kakashi and Tsunade look on in surprise. " _That's… just like Kushina's…"_

"Leaf, head out and stop our pursuers. I can keep everyone safe." Awaji's hands are trembling but he's not letting it show on his face. He's old and his chakra is not what it used to be; the Uzumaki's Chains are draining.

Shizune stands behind the elder Uzumaki and places a hand on his back, activating her Mystic Palm to transfer chakra. He turns back to her and smiles. "Thank you."

Each table's shinobi go to protect their respective Daimyo and officials. Shinobi not part of the meeting join them and defend and escort them to safety while the best fighters rush out to fight the assailants.

* * *

The Land of Rice Paddies officials and the Fuma clan shinobi make a run for it along the corridor but are quickly beset by enemies. They don't have any distinguishing features or emblems. They look like ordinary thugs, but they have to have some skill, right?

Hanzaki, the Fuma's tall bulky leader, draws his blade from his back, a Zanbato, a wide sword that can be best described as a giant cleaver knife, about as big as the man himself. Sasame draws what looks like a blade from her back, except it doesn't have a hilt but a giant ring. It has a single-edged scimitar-like blade except the sharp part is on the other side.

The bandits cry out. "Get 'em!"

Hanzaki charges toward two at the front. "Do not underestimate the Fuma clan's weapons!" He swings his zanbato with tremendous force and speed, moreso than the attacker thought possible. They're cleaved in half and flown back from the immense pressure of his brute strength.

Others aren't fazed and don't seem to care what happened to those two. They take out their kunai and go for the officials.

" **Ninja Art: Hair Binding"**

Kotohime's hair seemingly gains consciousness of its own as it wraps around and entangles the remaining assailants, strong enough to crush their bodies.

Sasame flicks her wrist and her weapons' blades unfold themselves, now numbering four. The Fuma shuriken, also called Shadow Windmill for its ability to fold its blades. She throws the shuriken at the attackers but it's easily dodged. What they don't dodge is the shuriken hiding in the first one's shadow. It digs deep and Sasame doesn't miss her chance to run in and make the slash wound deeper. She grabs the second Fuma shuriken and uses them in a powerful combination of both close quarters and at range.

The Fuma continue to slice their way through them until Hanzaki turns to Sasame and two other members of the clan. "You guys, head out and meet them halfway. We can't keep playing defence, we gotta stop them before they reach us! Now go!"

"Yes, sir!" They Flicker away.

* * *

The Land of Woods officials are being escorted in a fairly calm manner. The Daimyo doesn't show even a hint of worry although the same could not be said about her council.

Takeshi is walking at the front not uttering a word.

He points to the window next to him and holds up two fingers, and then points up and holds out 5 fingers.

Kuga smirks and draws out her claws, her nails become sharp like knives. She and Noraneko jump out the window as two bandits appear in their view, having jumped down from the floor above.

" **Severing Claws"**

The feline and her master slice with both paws/hands in opposite directions, their foes rent to pieces and flung aside with great force. They latch onto the walls by focusing chakra to their feet and run up to intercept 5 other bandits with as much ease. They weren't expecting to be attacked instead.

The reason the Woods envoy seems calm is Takeshi Tokage, a skilled sensory ninja. As long as he's around, nothing and no one can come close to them, and when he wants to communicate with his team, all he has to do is give them a series of hand gestures to tell them where to go and what to expect.

Takeshi points outside to the gardens and clenches his fist. That means a small army.

Kikyo jumps down amidst everyone. They all look to her questioningly, not sure why someone would just jump in the middle of the frey.

Kikyo sighs. "If I can't use my full abilities, I guess this'll have to do." She weaves her hand signs just as the bandits are about to lunge to attack her. They're stopped by beautiful calming lights fluttering in the air like fireflies. They're so captivated that they fall on the ground, asleep.

" **Temple of Nirvana"**

Mizushi and Kaidomaru both stand by and weave their respective hand seals.

" **Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet"**

" **Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Flower"**

Mizushi summons forth the serpentine-like body of water that washes over and engulfs whoever it goes through, while Kaidomaru summons multiple orbs of blazing hot fire that shoot down at the bandits, rendering them and the ground to ash.

Both Kuga and Kikyo join back up with their group.

In contrast, Kaidomaru steps on the windowsill. "I'm going to take care of things. You know what to do."

Everyone nods as he Flickers away.

* * *

Tsunade makes her way to the giant hole in the wall created by the previous explosion. As soon as she does, a barrage of kunai with explosive tags fly towards her, ready for another great explosion. Without batting an eye, she swings her hand back and with her full force punches the air. The resulting shockwave sends all the kunai flying back and they explode in the air, not causing any damage to the palace.

She looks back and call out to the most unpredictable ninja. "Naruto, try not to cause any more damage than they have."

"I know!"

Kakashi comes next to her and looks down to the numerous thugs gathered below.

He jumps down, gathering powerful lightning chakra that surrounds his whole hand and leaves behind a trail of lightning.

" **Lightning Blade"**

He slams on the ground, creating a powerful blast that kicks up a dust storm. When it settles, the people that were under him lay dead. Yamato emerges from the ground and the two stand back-to-back.

"So flashy, senpai."

"Sometimes the situation calls for it."

The bandits nearest to them take a step back, their eyes showing recognition and fear.

"Oi, oi, ain't that Kakashi o' the Sharingan?"

"Yeah, but he ain't got his Sharingan no more so he ain't nothin'!"

Yamato lets out a light chuckle. "Senpai, you're being underestimated." His arm shifts its form to that of wooden beams, preparing to strike.

Kakashi sighs, gathering more lightning around himself, cackling and surging all around them. "It's been awhile since I was a Jounin sensei but I suppose I can teach some punks a lesson or two."

" **Lightning Style: Lightning Beast Tracking Fang"** A hound made of pure lightning rushes forth, a leash of lightning connecting it to Kakashi's hand.

" **Wood Style: Great Forest"** The beams that now comprise Yamato's arm each jut out in different directions to strike different foes.

-X-

Not far from where Kakashi and Yamato are, Naruto, a handful of Shadow Clones, and Shikamaru also face their own force.

Shikamaru takes a knee in his usual stance before performing his clan's signature technique. But right now is… "Naruto, listen-" He's interrupted by a swirling chakra, ear-piercingly shrill. "What are you doing?"

Naruto has already entered his Chakra Shroud and is preparing a Rasenshuriken, except the core isn't raw chakra. The Wind Style blades instead surround a sphere of Lava.

"You can't use your Shadows since there's no light, right? So I'll make you some."

His Shadow Clones jump upward, gaining as much height as they can by using the building to propel themselves. Naruto throws the jutsu up, between the Clones.

" **Tailed Beast Rasenshuriken"**

The jutsu powered by Lava Style reaches its peak before exploding in a massive wave of gale and heat. Everyone can immediately feel the rise in temperature and its light acts as a second sun.

That's when a question Shikamaru had is answered. The reason the Shadow Clones jumped up was to create shadows on the ground.

Shikamaru doesn't skip and beat and immediately uses the Clones' shadows to empower his technique, the darkness slithering on the ground and holding most of them in places.

" **Shadow Possession** complete. And now..."

He changes the hand signs.

" **Shadow Stitching"**

The shadow underneath the bandIts jumps out like spikes and sticks into them. The ones further back watch on in horror as their own shadows are turned against them. Naruto and his remaining Clones run out, chakra gathering in their palms and expanding to great sizes, to take care of the remaining attackers.

" **Massive Rasengan Barrage"**

They're overwhelmed by sheer force of the jutsu and are taken out easily enough

Shikamaru taps his friend on the shoulder. "Nice thinking."

"Hah, you sound surpri-" Naruto lets out a pained yell. He curls up on the ground holding his stomach in agony. He feels like he did back when he couldn't control his Nine Tails chakra.

"Hey, Naruto, what's wrong?"

Inside his mind space, Naruto is in just as much pain. Kurama is looming over him, arms crossed.

" _ **Hrm, it seems my chakra's acting up."**_

Nartuo tries to stand up. "But… why? I thought we were good…"

" _ **We are, but I can't control my chakra that's running rampant somewhere else."**_

"Whatcha mean somewhere-" He gets a look of realization. "Sora."

Naruto wasn't aware he'd said that both in his mind and outwardly, confusing Shikamaru. "Sora? What about Sora?"

In the physical world, Naruto manages to fight the pain and Flicker away. "Take care of the rest Shikamaru."

* * *

Ikkyu and the ninja monks were at the palace for their own business when they were caught up in the attack. They put up a good front and did an excellent job of fending them off, until one particular attack struck Sora in the stomach.

From the shock and pain, the Nine Tails' chakra sealed inside him began overflowing. Half of his body is now covered in dark red chakra, shaping itself in the form of the fox. His tails are swatting at random, striking at the attacking bandits and even at his own comrades and Ikkyu.

When a tail lashes out again, Elder Bansai places his hands in front of him, but not to form a hand sign as ninja do. Both his palms are stretched out and facing left and right; the palms would be facing each other if the two hands weren't one over the other. A translucent figure surrounds them, a woman sitting in a lotus flow, dozens of arms protruding around her.

" **Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Guard"**

Some of the arms surround them in a protective stance while the others swat away the tail. Seeing the resistance, the barely-aware Sora focuses all of his tails on them in a fit of rage.

He roars, sending chills down Ikkyu's spine.

"Sora, please!" Sentoki, the scarred monk, cries out. "I don't want to harm you."

The divine figure of the Kannon breaks under the assault, causing them all to fly back. Sentoki manages to protect Ikkyu in time, sparing him from any harm but the monk himself is severely hurt.

Before he can regain himself, another tail swipes at them. Ikkyu watches on in horror as it comes directly for them.

He expected to see the tail get closer and closer, but instead he saw his surroundings become a blur. He blinks and finds himself and the monks in a different place to where they were, with Naruto standing in front of them.

"I'll take care of this." The blonde declares just before making a run for the transformed Sora.

He dodges and weaves past the attacks and gets right in his face. Sora tries to swat him away with a clawed hand, but Naruto meets it with a punch, and enters his friend's mind space.

" _ **Pitiful"**_ A loud voice echoes in the boy's mind. " _ **Followers of Ninshu are supposed to have better control than this. You're disgracing the old man Hagoromo."**_

Initially, Sora doesn't register this as real as opposed to a hallucination. Once he looks up, he sees the overbearing figure of the Nine Tailed Fox. He scritters back.

"You… you're the Nine Tailed Demon Fox?!"

"Hey, don't call him that." Sora sees Naruto approaching from under the fox. "His name's Kurama and he's my friend."

"Ku-Kurama? But how, where are we?"

"We're inside my mind space. It's where I get to talk to Kurama. A bit lower is where I talk to the others. You… went on a rampage again."

"But… I had it under control! I trained hard to suppress it!" Sora's eyes widen. "Oh no, the Elder! Sentoki! Ikkyu!"

"They're fine, but we gotta get you under control. Kurama, can you help?"

" _ **Of course I can, who do you think you're talking to?"**_ Kurama turns to Sora. " _ **Listen, boy, even a small bit of my chakra is difficult to control on its own, not without me around. So I'm taking back what's mine. You'll still have a bit of my power in you because it's intertwined with your own chakra over the years, but a rampage like this won't happen again. You'll lose power, but gain control."**_

"I thought I'd have to live for the rest of my life like this. I'd resigned myself to it and became at peace with the thought. But… It's only right to return what belongs to someone else. What do you need from me?"

Kurama and Naruto extend a fist. "Bump fists with us." " _ **Bump fists with us"**_

Sora does as instructed and he can immediately feel chakra being pulled from his body. It manifests as a spectre of sorts leaving his body and being pulled into Naruto. The process stings a bit but is oddly freeing.

In the physical world, the monks can see chakra being drained from Sora and into Naruto. The young monk comes to and is back to normal.

He breathes heavily and looks around at all the damage he's caused. "Damnit."

"No time for that. We still have people who need protecting."

Sora stands up to his feet, dusting himself off. "Elder, Sentoki, Ikkyu. I'm sorry. Allow me to make amends."

Both Sora and Naruto extend a hand, one gathers blue chakra and the other- orange. They both fire off raw chakra in the shape of a claw that washes over the bandits still present.

" **Beast Wave: Gale Palm"**

" **Tailed Beast Arm"**

* * *

Over at the entrance, some of the bandits are trying to make a run for it, seeing that things are not exactly going in their favour. Some guards manage to cut down the fleeing attackers but some guards are also cut down in return. Just when they think they're free from danger, one of them is struck in the chest.

" **Gentle Fist: Palm Bottom"**

The man falls to the ground, unable to move. Hinata runs to another fleeing bandits and strikes her in the heart, as well. And another. She shuts off the chakra of as many as she can but even she can't stop all of them at once.

She sees one of them making a run for it to the crowd. To her shock, she sees Kotori making a stand in front of him. The girl forms a seal and a screen of sparrow feathers appear in his way. He swats them away and draws a kunai to the girl, cursing at her.

Kotori freezes in fear, focusing on the bladed weapon aimed at her.

Hinata Flickers away, faster than she'd ever done before and manages to get between Kotori and the bandit in time. She raises a hand to stop him, but he manages to slash her arm. She winces in pain but strikes at him with her other hand.

" **Gentle Fist: Vacuum Palm"**

He's flung back with great force.

"Kotori, stay back!" She calls out and the girl manages to snap her mind back to follow the command.

Another wave of bandits come out running. Hinata gathers chakra in both hands, but doing so with an open wound hurts. Still, she fights through it and jumps up to gain higher ground.

" **Gentle Fist: Vacuum Wall Palm"**

A great force of pressure and wind surges and blows them all back, giving her a chance to draw closer and finish the job. And once she does, she gives a cursory glance to the surrounding area to ensure that people are safe and that no more bandits managed to escape.

While looking around, she does notice one curious item that 2 of the people she defeated are carrying. A ring engraved with Ijou Keiji's emblem. She takes them both and ties the two of them together, ready to take them in.

* * *

Yamato and Kakashi look around their surroundings, filled with fallen enemies, they themselves out of breath and clothes slightly ruined.

"Senpai, these people are all…"

"Yeah, I know. Let's go tell Lady Tsunade."

They both flicker up, along with Shikamaru who'd finished up cleaning on his own, and meet up with their Hokage. Kakashi approaches her first.

"Lady Tsunade, those guys down there. I don't recognize all of them, but the ones I do… are all from the Land of Fire."

"What?"

"Rogues from the Hidden Leaf, or bandits from the Land of Fire. I recognize them from the bingo book. I can't be certain if the other assailants are, as well, but…"

She bites her finger, annoyed. "Damnit. Pray that you're wrong, Kakashi, because this just might be the deciding factor. Let's check up on everyone else."

* * *

Inside, everything seems to have died down. Or simply died, depending on who you are. The shinobi from each village gathering back together, everyone bruised and torn in their own ways, and meeting with the officials where they'd ran to safety.

Sasame lands on the ground next to Hanzaki. She looks around but doesn't see the Daimyo's daughter. "Where's Lady Mikoto?"

Hanzaki grunts and tries to stand up. "She got separated with Kotohime and some of the others when a ceiling collapsed." He falls back to the ground, his leg wound more severe than he'd like to admit. "Go find them."

"Right!" She Flickers away and runs around the immediate vicinity calling out her name. Eventually she hears her cries. She's actively calling out… Kaidomaru's name? She runs faster.

Entering a room that survived the confrontation better than some others, she sees in the room fallen shinobi from the Fuma clan and the Hidden Mountain. In the centre are both Lady Mikoto, looking well all things considered (her hair has seen better days), and Kotohime, whose leg looks in pretty bad shape.

In Lady Mikoto's lap is the leader of the Hidden Mountain Village, Kaidomaru, with a sword sticking out of his chest.

"No! Master Kaidomaru, please, you have to survive!"

He extends a hand to the Daimyo's daughter and brushes her cheek. "I'm sorry, my love. But at least I was able to protect you." He coughs out blood.

"No, I can't go on without you! I can't!"

Sasame stands stunned. Did he say 'my love'? Are these two involved? How? When?

Kotohime sees Sasame and calls out. "Quick! Get the Hokage and her aide, he can still be saved!"

It takes her a moment to register but she does exactly that. A minute or so later, she walks in with the Hokage in tow, as well as most of the other shinobi who were gathered. The Hidden Mountain shinobi were already there and Takeshi had begun healing, with a crying Mikoto hoving over him.

Takeshi speaks without even looking at who'd just walked in. "Lady Hokage, please, medical ninjutsu isn't my forte, I'm barely able to keep him stable."

The Daimyo of the Rice Paddies bursts in. "Mikoto! My dear daughter!" He runs to her but she's still crying over Kaidomaru.

Tsunade takes over the healing from Takeshi.

"Please, Hokage! Save my love, I can't lose him!" The young woman continues to be distressed.

"Your… what?" Tsunade shakes her head. "Never mind that now, let me focus."

"Mikoto… what are you saying?"

"Father…" She doesn't look up to him. "My apologies, Father. I didn't mean to keep it a secret for so long, but we didn't wish for this to affect the negotiations. We wished it all to be impartial." She looks to Kaidomaru being healer in her lap. "Master Kaidomaru and I began seeing each other months ago when he'd visit. We… we're in love, Father!" She finally looks to him, trying to remain strong.

The Daimyo looks between the two of them, mouth agape. "Mikoto, I never knew."

"With all due respect, Lord Daimyo, could this conversation wait until I've finished healing?"

Everyone waits with bated breath as Kaidomaru is being healed. Tsunade does the preliminary work but she can't do everyone on the spot. She's able to heal him and get him to a stable condition but she gets him well enough to where he can be taken to a hospital where treatment can finish.

Hinata and Kotori arrive on the scene, next to Naruto.

"Hinata? What are you doing here?"

"I saw the palace being attacked, did you believe I'd sit back?"

"Heh, no, I guess not."

She holds out the two rings she found. "These rings. Two of the assailants were carrying them; the same as that man in Yokumaru's house."

Naruto takes them and examines them. "What? That guys? But Ikkyu said.."

"That anyone wearing such rings acts upon the will of its giver." Ikkyu walks next to him. "Naruto, if Keiji has people who were involved in the attack, this may be just what I needed to get the upper hand." He turns around to the older Madoka. "Father."

The man simply turns his head slightly and nods. "I do believe you're right. We have evidence gathered. Once we process everything, I'll make arrangements."

Kotori isn't exactly sure what's going on but she's somewhat picked up on it. "So then Yokumaru will be free?"

Ikkyu smiles to the girl. "Well, I don't know who Yokumaru is, but a lot of people will be free once Keiji is out of the picture."

* * *

Over the next 2 days, Kaidomaru would make a somewhat full recovery. He still has trouble breathing but is in overall good condition. The negotiations continue but are clearly slanted in the Land of Woods' favour.

It came to light that indeed every single attacker was from the Land of Fire, making their case difficult to defend. The Rice Paddies Daimyo could not feel safe if there is such descent. The ones who were captured alive claimed they could not allow the servants of Orochimaru to be part of their land, although a clear picture of their full motives and goals is yet to be gotten.

If that wasn't enough, the revelation of Kaidomaru and Lady Mikoto being in love put things into perspective. The Daimyo initially disapproved of such a secret but came around after talking to his daughter. Apparently nothing 'serious' had happened and they planned on revealing it if they merged with the Land of Woods, but if they'd instead merged with the Land of Fire- the relationship would have been called off, although it pained them both.

Ultimately, a decision was reached.

The Land of Rice Paddied would be no more, and officially become one with the Land of Woods.

* * *


	15. Be Strong IV

**BE STRONG IV**

Ijou Keiji is sitting overly comfortable in his office, unaware that his life is about to crumble. He's surrounded by beautiful women and sipping his sake as the women do everything in their power to suck up to him and get as much money out of him as they can.

It's at this peaceful time that the door bursts open.

"Boss! Boss!"

"You dullard, I told you not to interrupt me!"

"But- but-" Before the man can even give the beginning of an explanation, the capital's police force enters the room and stands very formally.

Ijou squints his eyes. "What're you punks doing here, I'm paying you more than enough to-" That's when he spots Ikkyu Madoka and Naruto standing behind the police.

"Ijou Keiji, you're under arrest under suspicions of collaborating with terrorists, and the attempted murder of High Higness, Lord Daimyo." They forcefully grab him and put him in handcuffs.

Ijou stands up, spilling his drink. "What?! Do you people even hear what you're saying?! Unhand me this instant! Madoka, you runt, you think you can get away with this? I'll have your head, you hear me?!"

"Sorry, Keiji, but you won't be worming your way out of this one. We found more than enough to lock you up for a lifetime."

They take him away, screaming and shouting, until his voice can no longer be heard.

Naruto turns to Ikkyu. "Will he really be locked up for good?"

Ikkyu shrugs. "Honestly, I don't know who he has in his pocket. A man like him has connections. However, this time Lord Daimyo himself was put in harm's way so I doubt he'd wiggle his way out of it. And it's all thanks to your girlfriend. We tracked where those people she captured had been, what they'd done, who they'd seen... and it all got back to Keiji. You've my thanks."

"It's really Hinata who should be getting all the thanks." He grins

"I was hoping to do that but… where is she?"

"Taking care of something else. Or, someone else, I should say."

* * *

During the raid on Keiji's establishments, Hinata and Kotori are leading Tsunade and Shizune, now dressed in her normal robes, through the poorest part of the capital. The ruined shacks, the mud paths, the people dressed in rags. It really was a sorry sight to behold.

They stand in front of one particular shack and enter, pushing aside the dirty rag that hangs in front of the door.

Inside, they see Yokumaru taking care of his mother. Once they enter he spins around expecting to see Keiji or his men harassing him again. To his surprise, he sees Hinata and Kotori. Rather, he's not surprised. He's been expecting them to show up at one point or another. Even he's not sure whether he wanted them to come or not.

He grips onto Kotori's clothes that he's still wearing. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'll pay everything back, I promise. I'm sorry." He gets down on his knees, tearing up.

Yoi tries to stand up but finds it difficult to prop herself up.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Tsunade enters the shack, as well, and gives Yoi a lookover, gauging her condition. "Lie down."

Yokumaru looks around in a panic. "Please, I promise I won't do it again."

Hinata leans down next to him. "Yokumaru, it's fine. Lady Tsunade is the best medical ninja in the world. I asked her to come take a look at your mom." Her soft voice reminds him of his mom's before she fell so ill.

He looks up to her. "But why?"

"Because we want to help. That hasn't changed."

Kotori steps closer, looking shyly. "I'm sorry. I don't know what you've been through. It must've been a lot. But it's gonna be fine now! Grandma is really good, or at least I think. I don't really get it."

Tsunade looks over Yoi with her Mystic Palm, healing chakra washing over, Shizune helping her from the other side.

"Who… are you?" Yoi manages a pained whisper.

"I'm Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village."

Yoi jolts up but is held down by the older woman's monstrous strength, not that much strength is needed to keep her down, weakened as she is.

"The… Hokage? Why? I'm not worth-"

"Don't finish the sentence. Someone very dear to me asked me to help so I'm here to help." She places her hand over the woman's forehead. "Why are you in here? Why haven't you been checked into a hospital?"

"Can't afford it. My husband… tried to get money, but…" She looks over to her son who's still being comforted by the woman and child she saw before. "He died a year ago."

"I see. I'm sorry." Tsunade closes her eyes. She's all too familiar with the pain of losing loved ones. After a moment's pause, she sighs and opens her eyes. "Look, I'm going to be honest with you. You're not in good condition, although you probably now. I might be able to treat you but not in this shack and not in the capital; they don't have the right gear. I'd have to move you to the Hidden Leaf, but moving you in your condition is…"

Yoi places a hand on the older woman's arm. Her skin is cold and her fingers bony "Please... you don't have to worry. Just... having someone like you here... is more than enough. If I just may ask… for my son to... go to the Hidden Leaf. His father… had a kekkei genkai. He has it, too. At least he… should live a good life."

Yokumaru tears up and kneels down next to his mother. "No, mom, you're gonna make it. It's gonna be fine now."

Soon after, Naruto and Ikkyu make their way to the shack.

Ikkyu looks around in shock. "So this is the place you mentioned? This is the 'legacy' Keiji left behind."

"Yeah." Naruto looks around and greets those present. Kotori clings to his leg.

"This… is exactly what I want to change. We treat our own like this but we act superior to shinobi. It's not right."

Tsunade looks from the corner of her eyes. "And yet this is the reality of it, Madoka."

"Well it's no reality I want a part of. I intend to change it once I become Daimyo and until then, I'll do everything in power. I'm in a position where I'm able to, so I don't plan on wasting it."

Naruto brushes Kotori's hair while looking at the woman being healed. "You think you can do it?"

"I know I want to. Isn't that how all dreams start?"

Naruto cracks a smile. "Alright, then. How about this? You and I keep working on our way and fix the shinobi world and non-shinobi world, and when you become Daimyo and I become Hokage, we'll unite our worlds and become better than it ever was."

"Hah, you think you can do it?"

"I can't. But we can."

The two smile at each other and shake hands.

"Deal."

Tsunade can't help but smile hearing his word. A promise he made to her all those years ago is seeming more and more like a reality with each passing day, and he's making good friends along the way.

Yoi turns her head. "That boy… is he the one you mentioned? The one… precious to you?"

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"Oh, it's just…" Yoi looks at the Hokage with a genuine smile that even Yokumaru hadn't seen in a while. "You looked like a mother just now."

A giant smile comes across Shizune's face.

"Not a word, Shizune."

"Yes, ma'am." The aide chuckles.

Tsunade stands up, stopping her chakra. "I'm taking you to the Koukan Inn. From now on, you're under my supervision until we can figure out a way to get you to the Hidden Leaf safely."

Yoi goes to speak up but is quickly interrupted. "And don't even think about protesting."

Hearing this, Hinata and Naruto share a look and both have a look of understanding.

Naruto walks over to Tsunade. "Hey, Granny. If we need to get to the Leaf quick, then I can just use my Reserve Summoning. The toads have a pond nearby so it'll be a lot quicker."

"Reverse Summoning? Huh, how did I not think of that. Alright, we'll make preparations to leave soon. We're done here, anyway."

Yoi and Yokumaru are moved to a room in the Koukan Inn, adjacent to where the shinobi are staying. The staff tried to protest them being there but quickly changed their tones once Ikkyu Madoka told them to get it done. His name carries a lot of weight. Although they still had to steer clear from most of the Inn, which wasn't an issue because they wouldn't be staying long, anyway.

In the Uzumaki room, Yokumaru is holding a pouch containing what he took from them before. He looks down while presenting it. "I… don't have the other things, but I'll make up for it somehow. I promise."

Naruto takes out a pouch of his own. "Oh, you don't have to." He tosses it up and down, causing it to jingle. "I took them back when Keiji was taken away. So nothing was lost, right?" He grins. "You can keep that. Think of it as a present."

"But… I stole it. I shouldn't..."

Hinata leans down and brushes his hair. He doesn't flinch like before. "Yokumaru, I could have chased after you, or stopped you when I heard you leave. You've lived a rough life and it's admirable you want to make up for it. But you're not alone anymore. We'll help you."

When he starts crying, Kotori gives him a big hug. "Now we can be good friends, yeah?"

He sniffles. "Yeah."

* * *

In a private room of the Koukan Inn, an odd group had gathered to catch up on old times. Naruto and Hinata were sitting together as usual, with Sora and Sasame joining them on the table.

Sasame, it turns out, is a lightweight. Her cheeks are already rosey and she's lying on the table.

"Maaaaan, why'd it have to be -hic- the Land of Woods? The Fuma coulda joined the Leaf and we coulda gone on missions together!"

Naruto offers a sympathetic smile. It definitely would've been good to have an old friend join them. "Yeah, it sucks we won't see more of each other."

"It's to be expected." Sora takes a sip of his water. "Not only the attackers being from the Land of Fire but the Daimyo's daughter and the Hidden Mountain's leader being in love… The odds were against us."

Hinata refills Naruto and Sasame's drinks. "It is a shame, but at least we know the merging of the lands will be an easy one, given their relationship. We know they'll take care of each other."

Sasame still sulks. "I mean, yeah, I'm happy for her and love is great but still…"

"And hey! Me and Hinata are out on a mission to visit every Hidden Village in the other 4 Great Nations. So if the Hidden Mountain joins the alliance, we might see each other more, y'know? As an exchange."

"Ohey that's right!" She springs up. "The other villages have ambassadors, right? Maybe I can be that for the Hidden Leaf!" Her big smile turns more focused and serious as she squints her eyes at Hinata.

"Um, is something the matter?"

Sasame grumbles. "You're really pretty." And crumbles back onto the table.

"Oh, um, thank you?" She blushes.

"You take good care of her, Naruto, you hear?"

Sora pulls her drink. "I think you've had enough."

Sasame rises and swats him on the shoulder. "Don't tell me when I've had enough, I'll tell you when you've had enough!" She stops.

The four of them would spend the rest of the night chatting away, catching up what everyone's been up to over the last years, and what they intended to do in the near future. It put Naruto at ease to catch up with old friends and see that they're doing well.

* * *

After meeting up with the old friends, Naruto and Hinata were met in the corridor by a very serious Tsunade.

"Naruto, come with me." She places a hand on his forehead and uses her Mystic Palm to sober him up. She sobers up Hinata, too, while she's at it.

"Huh, what for, Granny?"

"It's Awaji Uzumaki."

"Oh…" He lightly squeezes Hinata's hand. "I'll be back soon, alright?"

She returns the squeeze. "Take your time." And gives him a peck on the cheek before going to their room.

Tsunade leads him to a different private dining room, where Awaji is already seated, along with 6 other individuals- an older couple seemingly in their 40s and 4 younger- from around Naruto's age to around Konohamaru's age. The older man and the 4 children have varying shades of red hair.

Tsunade and Naruto take a seat opposite of them.

Awaji takes a sip from his drink, the same calm demeanor as before. "Before we begin, allow me to introduce my family. As stated before, I am Awaji Uzumaki, of the Uzumaki clan. This is my son, Akashi Uzumaki, and his wife, Kaikyo." They each bow. "And these are their children. My granddaughter Michi, my grandson Sen, my granddaughter Saki, and my youngest granddaughter Esuka." They go from eldest to youngest.

Michi and Saki bow, Sen looks disinterested, and Esuka looks distant but gives a lighter head nod.

Sen leans to his side and whispers to his older sisters. "Is that the guy? Doesn't look all that."

Michi reprimands him as quietly as she can. "Don't be rude."

Their mother glances over from the corner of her eye, which gets Sen to straighten and not interrupt.

"I believe now is the time to answer what questions you may have."

"I have my own I'm curious about, but…" Tsunade looks to Naruto, waiting for him to ask.

"Like, where do I even begin, y'know? I've never known any other Uzumaki besides my mom, and even her I only saw a fraction of. I just…" He grips his pants. "I know the Hidden Whirlpool was destroyed cause other nations were afraid and the Uzumaki clan was scattered. So why now? Let's start with that."

Awaji strokes his greying beard. "Why now, huh? Well if you know what happened to the Hidden Whirlpool, that makes it all the easier. Our two villages held great respect for each other. We are distantly related to the Senju clan, after all, and always had good relations. That's why you have our symbol on your sleeve." Awaji points to the armband that became customary for Chunin and Jounin to wear, depicting the symbol of the Hidden Whirlpool Village.

"However, many feared our power and our relationship. We were an easier target and without us, the Hidden Leaf lost a powerful ally. Had the Hidden Leaf taken us, they would've faced retaliation. So we ran, hid ourselves where we could, forsake our name."

Tsunade is leaning on the table, listening. "So now you've grown tired of hiding?"

He nods. "The world has changed and we spoke…" He looks back to his family who share a nod. "And decided that hiding is no longer necessary. We already have the Daimyo's permission, so we only need yours. We would like the Uzumaki clan to officially join the Hidden Leaf Village."

Tsunade pinches the bridge of her nose. "You know it won't be that simple, even if the Five Great Villages are at peace, right?"

"I am aware. We're willing to facilitate the process however necessary. Although given recent events, I don't believe the other villages would object to a master sealing user of the Uzumaki clan." He looks pointedly at Naruto, or maybe… within him instead.

Naruto forms the seal for his Shadow Clone and one appears next to him, but rather than the deep blue eyes he usually has, this one has blood red eyes, and more prominent whiskers.

The Uzumakis are startled by the sudden change, but Awaji remains calm.

"The Nine Tailed Fox, I presume."

"The name is Kurama, boy. Don't forget that. You Uzumaki are so…" He clicks his tongue.

"My apologies, Kurama. I never would have expected you to have a name. We've never known it."

"You've never cared. I should know, three of your clan were my hosts."

"Lady Mito and young Kushina. I remember when they set off to the Hidden Leaf…" He closes his eyes in reminiscence. "It feels like yesterday."

"Gramps, you knew my mom?"

"And even Grandmother?"

"Why yes. Lady Mito, the beautiful and powerful kunoichi that she was, there was not one person better suited to house the Nine- sorry, Kurama. I'm not ashamed to admit, the adolescent me had a crush on her, as did many others, but I suppose none of us were a match for Hashirama Senju." He chuckles. "And Kushina was powerful in her own right even at a young age. She was but a child but already burdened with great responsibility, but she took it on herself better than most adults would."

"That's all well and good, but there's a different past we should be reminiscing about. Much more distant."

"I'm curious about that, as well." Tsunade perks up. "Surely you've heard of what happened in Kusatsu Town on the border, and in the Hidden Cloud." She turns to Kurama. "Great Beasts, I believe you named them."

Kurama nods. "Remnants of a bygone era, before the Uzumaki clan was even called the Uzumaki clan."

"I'm afraid that to that, I do not hold the answers you seek. I do know the secrets of the Great Beats my ancestors sealed away was taken from the ruins of our village. By who, I do not know, but they are certainly no ally."

"Gramps, can you seal them back again? Not let 'em roam free."

"I can certainly try, however this is old knowledge. Older than I know."

Akashi, Awaji's son, speaks up for the first time. "Father passed on the Uzumaki clan's Sealing techniques, and I- to my children. We can share our knowledge with the Hidden Leaf and be better prepared for the coming threats, especially if they use our clan's secrets."

Tsunade rubs her chin. "I won't disagree with you on that. If it were up to just me, I wouldn't have a reason to say no. But as you mentioned, the Uzumaki clan was a source of tension back in the day. I'll bring it up at the next Kage Summit."

"Thank you, Lady Tsunade." Awaji bows. "I'm aware of the identities of other members of our clan and have kept contact with many of them over the years. I would ask to bring them along, as well."

"Seriously? There's even more Uzumaki out there?" Naruto nearly jumps to his feet.

"More than you'd probably think. Although what worries me is that many have disappeared suddenly or refused to keep contact. I cannot be sure of their status."

"Very well." Tsunade stands up. "Make whatever preparations you must, and I'll do the same."

Awaji stands up and the two shakes hands. Naruto does the same.

"It was a pleasure to see that Kushina's son grew up to be such an outstanding man. I couldn't be prouder."

"Thanks. That… means more than you could know."

* * *

With the negotiations over with, all the shinobi were free to return to their respective villages. The Land of Woods left after some additional talks with the Land of Rice Paddies, which would be continued at a later date, but some preliminary things needed to be agreed upon.

Currently, they're a day's travel out of the Land of Fire's capital and taking a short break. The Daimyo's litter, essentially a small box big enough for a person to sit in while being lifted and carried by 2-4 people, was set to the side while the Daimyo looked over the landscape with Kaidomaru and his most trusted shinobi- Mizushi, Kuga, and Kikyo. Takeshi is nowhere in sight.

A smile creeps across her face. "So the deed is done. With this, the Land of Hot Waters is as good as ours, as well."

Kaidomaru nods. "Everything went rather smoothly."

Kikyo is sitting down, hugging one leg. "Especially that sword through your chest."

Mizushi sighs. "You honestly gave me a scare, you know. Did you have to actually get your heart pierced?"

Their leader smirks. "Whatever for? Two of the best medical ninja in the world were present. My life was never in any danger. And any lesser wound wouldn't have required the attention of the Hokage herself, thus endearing me even more in Lady Mikoto's eyes."

The Daimyo runs her fingers through Kaidomaru's hair and presses her body against his. "Don't dare her 'Lady' in my presence, Kaidomaru. Know I'm only barely tolerating you being with her. When will you be rid of her?"

Kaidomaru doesn't move at the invasion of privacy. "Not soon or it'll look suspicious. Years need to pass, perhaps marriage and a child."

The Daimyo's grasps his hair between her fingers. "If you do have a child with her, then it dies when she does, understood? I will not allow a child of yours to exist that isn't mine." Her tone is threatening but her visage is never anything other than serene and gorgeous.

"Of course, Lady Yaegiri."

She leans over to lovingly kiss him on the lips. She breaks away and returns to her litter.

Kikyo and Mizushi turn away for the duration, not really wanting to stare. Kuga has no problem staring. When she leaves, they turn around to find their other comrade, Takeshi, present. As usual with him, they never heard or saw him.

Takeshi forms a set of seals and a very familiar blob of chakra appears from markings on his hand. "Ijou Keiji, as requested." Kaidomaru performs the same jutsu and absorbs it into himself.

Kuga has a hand on her hip as usual. "Why do we even need a second rate criminal like him?"

"Ijou Keiji is one of the few who might possibly know it was us who ordered the attack on the palace. I'm not taking the chance, so I'll assimilate his memories and find out. The rabble that actually attacked all thought they were doing it out of patriotic duty, to cleanse the Land of Fire of Orochimaru's twisted legacy."

"Pitting the rogues and bandits to attack the palace during negotiations, and working on Lady Mikoto for the past few months and getting yourself nearly killed while protecting her… All of it paid off quite nicely." Takeshi's expression is unreadable from under his mask.

"Was there ever any doubt?" Kaidomaru smirks and turns to his Daimyo to continue the journey back home.

* * *

The Hidden Leaf ninja are already home, returning via being swallowed by a toad and transported to the village. Needless to say, Yoi and Yokumaru were… surprised and they're still not over it, but it passed quickly enough.

Yoi is already in a hospital room of her own, ready to be treated for her illness. Tsunade and Shizune will personally oversee her operation.

She's currently in bed, with her son staying by her side, along with Naruto, Hinata, and Kotori.

Yoi looks to the Leaf ninja. "I can't thank you enough for all of this. It's more than I ever could've dreamed of."

"Don't mention it. It's the least we could do after getting involved; we couldn't just leave you guys be."

She caresses her son's head, much cleaner than he's really ever been. And so is she, actually. One of the first things the medics did was clean her up. "But are you going to be fine on your own? Lady Hokage said it'll take a while for me to heal, and I'll still be bedridden for a long time."

"Yeah, I'll be fine! I managed fine enough in the capital, so I can manage here, too! And I can learn to be a ninja. Don't worry about me, mama."

Hinata steps forward. "Actually, I wished to ask you concerning that matter. We spoke and with your permission, we'd like to bring Yokumaru with us and train him to be a shinobi, as our apprentice."

Both the Kigatsus have a surprised look on their face.

Yokumaru is the first to speak. "Seriously? Can I?"

Yoi props herself up very lightly and says in a slightly more argumentative way. "I can't ask you to do that! After all of this, I can't possibly expect you to be Yokumaru's teachers! Please don't burden yourselves anymore."

"It's fine. We've already decided that we want to, and Kotori especially wants him along with us. I gotta warn you, though. We're going to set off and travel a lot. It might be awhile before you can see each other again."

"But that's… so much…."

Yokumaru turns to her. "Mom, please? I promised you I'd be strong, and someone's gotta teach me, right? I can't learn on my own."

Kotori stands next to her bed as well with equal excitement. "Yeah, Miss Yoi! Mom and Dad are really good teachers and they're really nice! You won't regret it."

Yoi looks between the two kids and, at least in her eyes, the two older kids. She sighs. "With enthusiasm like that, how could I refuse? Don't be a burden on them, Yokumaru."

"I won't!" Yokumaru beams and he and Kotori hug, jumping up and down as the adults smile.

The boy turns to Naruto and Hinata. "I'm in your care, sensei."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NAME MEANINGS
> 
> Akashi Uzumaki (うずまき アカシ, Uzumaki Akashi) and Kaikyo Uzumaki (うずまき カイキョ, Uzumaki Kaikyo) = named after the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge which links Awaji Island to mainland Japan. It's opposite of the Naruto Whirlpools.
> 
> Michi Uzumaki (うずまき ミチ, Uzumaki Michi) = named after Michi no Uzu, a place to view the Naruto whirlpools from.
> 
> Sen Uzumaki (うずまき セン, Uzumaki Sen) = named after Senjojiki Observatory, a place to view the Naruto whirlpools from.
> 
> Saki Uzumaki (うずまき サキ, Uzumaki Saki) = named after Magosaki Viewpoint, a place to view the Naruto whirlpools from.
> 
> Esuka Uzumaki (うずまき エスカ, Uzumaki Esuka) = named after Eska Hill, a place to view the Naruto whirlpools from.
> 
> Yaegiri (ヤエギリ, Yaegiri) = named after Princess Yaegiri from folklore. The supposed mother of Kintaro/Sakata no Kintoki/Kaidomaru.


	16. Hidden Leaf Break

**HIDDEN LEAF BREAK I**

Back in the Hokage office, Tsunade leans back in her chair.

She sighs in relief. "Ah, I never thought I'd be this happy to be back here. So." She turns to the people in front of her. Naruto, Hinata, Kotori, and Yokumaru. "What's your plan?"

"Aaaabout what?"

She sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "About where you'll be staying. You have Kotori to take care of, and we can't leave Yokumaru alone while his mother's still in the hospital. Your place isn't big enough, Naruto."

"Uhhh…" Naruto and Hinata look at each other.

"... Please tell me you've thought about this."

Naruto protests. "Well it's not like we were planning on coming back so soon, y'know!"

"It's true, this was an unplanned detour. Perhaps I could ask Father for us to stay in the Hyuga estate. We've more than enough room."

"Well, I'll leave that to you, then." Tsunade rummages through some papers. "It'll take a few days to get everything in order, to register Kotori and the Kigatsus as citizens of the Hidden Leaf." She looks up to Naruto and Hinata. "In the meantime, I could arrange for a new place for you. If you're going to have Kotori around; you can't stay at the Hyuga's place forever."

Naruto and Hinata share a look again. It dawns on them how little prepared they were when they returned. Having a home together when they're so young, a place to take care of Kotori… They'd gotten so caught up in the moment and their momentum is only now slowing down.

Tsunade sees their troubled expressions. "Just think about, alright? Dismissed."

The four exit and Yokumaru looks concerned. "Am I in the way?" A bluntly honest question, but kids tend to be.

Hinata leans down and both she and Naruto reassure him.

"No, of course not!"

"We just need to put our things in order, is all. It was bound to happen eventually." Hinata looks off into the distance. "We just need to convince my father."

* * *

Hiashi sets aside his papers after just hearing his daughter's request, and takes out a new batch of documents.

"Very well."

That was easy.

"Really, Father?" Hinata leans forward slightly, almost jumping in surprise at her father's agreement.

"Would you like me to decline?" He slightly raises a brow.

"No, of course not!"

"That's great! See, he's understanding." Naruto pumps his fist. "Thanks a lot, Old Man Hiashi!"

The Hyuga leader continues writing in his scrolls, doing the necessary work of a clan leader. "The boy and the girl will occupy the room two doors from yours, Hinata. They will be your responsibility."

"Of course, Father." She bows. "And which room would Naruto occupy?"

Hiashi doesn't lift his gaze from his scroll. "Naruto already has an apartment, he doesn't need to stay here."

Naruto stands up. "But we've stayed in the same place for our mission so far. And we have training to do."

"You're not currently on your mission, you're taking a break. Whatever arrangements you've had so far needn't translate here. You may still enter and leave, and use our grounds for the childrens' training." He sets his writing brush aside and looks up to them. "Will that be all?"

"Whaddya mean-" Naruto's stopped by Hinata grabbing his hand.

She's still sitting on the ground. "Thank you, Father."

She stands up and heads to leave, lightly pulling him along. He looks at her back, in a hurry to get out of the room, and to Hiashi who's already back to his scroll.

She didn't even try to fight her dad on this and readily agreed to have him be somewhere else, after 3 months of being together on their travels. Was she having second thoughts? Was she tired of him already?

"Hinata, why didn't you say something?"

Hinata doesn't let go of his hand. She turns around and presses her forehead against his chest. "Father already made a decision. To ask any more of him would be asking too much of him, as the leader. I'm sorry."

Naruto doesn't respond. The two make their way to Kotori and Yokumaru who'd stayed behind while they talk to Hiashi. They're told the news that they can stay.

Kotori jumps. "Yay! That's awesome."

Yokumaru still looks slightly stunned. "Are you sure it's okay? This place is so big. I didn't know you were from a big family, Hinata-sensei."

Kotori beams. "See, they don't show it but they're super powerful, you know!"

"Hey, I look plenty strong!" Naruto protests.

Hinata would've liked to take a stroll around the village, show the kids around, but it's already way past sunset. It's far too late for that. Instead, they take the kids to their room and get them set up for the night. Throughout, Naruto is oddly quiet, but he keeps his smile around the children.

In the evening, Kotori and Yokumaru make use of the giant open space in the back and show off their moves to each other. Yokumaru definitely has the upper hand when it comes to weaving chakra and using hand signs, he even knows some of the basic techniques, like Body Flicker and Substitution, Kotori has practiced a lot of taijutsu so she has the upper hand there. Her kicks and punches are pretty powerful.

Hinata observes from the porch and once Naruto sees the kids are fine on their own, he joins her. He squats down and takes her hands in his own.

Hinata rubs the back of his hands with her thumbs. "Is everything okay? You've been quiet."

"Yeah, of course it's okay."

"... Is it… about you not being allowed to stay here?"

"I mean, it woulda been nice to stick together, but I get it if ya need a break away from me."

"What? Naruto, that's on it at all! It's just… I'm sure Father's concerned about us moving too fast. Honestly, after hearing Lady Tsunade, a part of me was worried about the same. I don't know what life even awaits us after we finish our mission. We only just got together when we met Kotori and we both made a promise to be her parents, when we barely even know what to do with ourselves." She lowers her gaze. "I know this might be terrible of me to say, but I'm scared we won't be good for her, that we'll overlook something, or make a mistake we won't be able to fix."

He stays quiet for a moment and presses his forehead against her hands.

"It's not like… I didn't think about that, too, y'know. I know this isn't a normal situation to be in, and I know I haven't put in a lot of thought into it yet. But I will! I'll figure things out once we get settled down and I want us to be together when that happens. You were… the first person to tell me they love me and that's special to me. So I'm trying really hard to be the kinda person you can be proud of."

"Naruto…" She places a hand on his cheek and lifts his face to look at her. "I am." She gives him a peck on the nose. "I'm sorry for bringing this up."

He gives a genuine smile. "It was gonna happen at some point, right? About our future together. I guess your dad's right to be worried about his daughter. I wonder if I'll be the same when Kotori brings home a boy."

Hinata chuckles. "I don't think you're the stern type like Father."

They both learn closer and share a kiss.

Meanwhile, Yokumaru and Kotori are doing their best to pretend they're not actually watching the two of them be cuddly.

Behind the corner, a figure stands out of view, arms crossed and tucked into his robes' sleeves. A young girl perched on the railing next to him.

"It's not polite to eavesdrop, Father."

"You were doing the same." Hiashi turns to Hanabi. "What do you think?"

"Hmm. I think she's stronger than ever, and happier than ever. And I think those two things are related."

"I see."

Hiashi walks out in view, and Naruto and Hinata immediately break away. Not that they're ashamed of anything, it's just being a couple in front of him feels… weird. The Hyuga leader stops by Hinata and looks on to the two kids sparring.

"So that girl is my granddaughter, huh?" His voice doesn't sound like it carries much emotion with it.

"Ah, yes, Father. That's Kotori, the girl we adopted. I know she isn't of Hyuga blood but-"

"Does that matter to you?"

"Huh?" She looks up to him, confused. "Um, no?"

"Then it doesn't matter." He turns to go back and looks at Naruto from the side. "Your room will be prepared shortly. It's next to the children's."

Both Naruto and Hinata look visibly confused.

In truth, Hiashi had planned to have a serious conversation with Hinata once Naruto left. He intended to talk to her about the relationship, about this child they'd taken under their wing, about what they intend to do in the future. However, it sounds like those two have thought about it already, and are working on it. But it's still his house, so Naruto would sleep in a different room. He _is_ a father, after all.

* * *

Early in the morning, Hiashi wakes up and prepares for his morning kata, practicing even the basic forms is a must for a master practitioner. And it helps clear his mind before performing his responsibilities to his clan. He ties his sash around his training robes but when he exits the house to head into the yard, he hears the sounds of combat from the other side. This was considered early even by his standards and yet someone was already out training? And that side of the manor is Hinata's.

He makes the short walk and witnesses … Hanabi?... sparring with both Kotori and Yokumaru. She's barely worked up a sweat while the two kids already look exhausted. How long have they even been at it?

Naruto and Hinata are sitting on the porch, observing. They only have their mesh shirts on and look exhausted themselves, seemingly having sparred before this. He joins the young couple and Hinata smiles at his approach.

"Hanabi was excited to meet them so she woke up extra early."

"I see."

Hanabi fends off their attacks quite easily with minimal movement. Kotori makes use of her one-sign techniques and tries to bombard her with feathers but the Hyuga easily steps out of their way.

" **Crystal Style: Crystal Wall"**

In that moment Yokumaru summons his only known jutsu but they're easily skipped over. The boy does utilize his Walls well, using them as cover and as footing for bigger and longer jumps. He's clearly had practice, and Kotori quickly picks up on their usefulness.

When he summons another one, Hanabi stands behind it and gathers chakra in her hand. She slams it against the Crystal Wall.

" **Gentle Fist: Vacuum Palm"**

Shards of crystal are sent flying directly to Yokumaru. He begins the signs for a Substitution but he doesn't have enough time. Instead, he puts his arms up to protect himself and braces of an impact that never comes. When he opens his eyes, he sees that Hinata had pulled him away before he was hurt.

Hiashi is impressed by the speed of her reaction. He looks down and notices that Naruto hadn't budged an inch. It can't be that he couldn't react in time. Did he just have faith Hinata would pull him away? Had they agreed beforehand?

"You use your Crystal Wall well, but it's a single skill that can easily be used against you, as Hanabi just did. Placing it on the battlefield can also aid your enemies. That's why you need to think more about where and how you place them, and how long you leave them for, until you learn more jutsu. Again."

"Yes, sensei."

They take their stances while Hinata returns and continues drinking her morning tea.

The three of them continue sparring. Kotori summons feather after feather, aiming at Hanabi's feet. On one hand, it would slow her down if it hits, but even if it doesn't, Hanabi would have to dodge back to avoid them, which would give Kotori enough time to weave her chakra.

Hanabi sees her niece make the longer set of hand signs and rushes to stop her. She's still slow when it comes to that and will need to work on getting faster. This time, however, she isn't stopped. A Crystal Wall appears between the two of them but instead of being vertical like the ones before, this one is slanted at an angle, with the top aiming right for Hanabi.

From the corner of her eyes, she sees Yokumaru watching out for his new friend and fellow apprentice. He's already taking Hinata's words to heart and using his skill differently. If the Wall was vertical, it could just be smashed like she did before and that would put Kotori at risk. However, the tip of the Wall being aimed at the enemy would lower their reaction time. Smart thinking.

She jumps over the wall but her movement is slowed by a second, giving Kotori enough time to finish.

" **Ninja Art Aviary: Lightning Condor"**

The bird of prey materializes above Kotori and swoops over, talons and beak clawing and scratching at Hanabi. It flies up and switches to a dive down. As Hanabi prepares to strike it, the ground under her feet moves. Another Crystal Wall pushes her upward and right into the bird's talons.

With some years of practice, this will become an amazing combination of attacks. She smiles as the condor dives down, crashing its talons into her. The Crystal Wall breaks, sending shards and dust flying everywhere. As it settles, the condor is still there and looks confused, as do Kotori and Yokumaru. Hanabi is nowhere to be seen.

"Alright, that's enough for now." Hinata calls out and when they turn around, they see their opponent already there, cleaning her sweat off with a towel.

They breathe a sigh of relief as they were getting really tired, and make their way to the porch, where they have refreshments prepared.

"Allow me to introduce you. Kotori, Yokumaru, this is my father, Hiashi Hyuga, head of the Hyuga clan."

They show their respects with a bow, while Hiashi returns with a light bow of his head.

Kotori nervously asks. "So, um, you're my… Grandfather?"

"... It would appear that I am. You've an interesting ability, don't slack off on your training."

With just that, he takes his leave. Hanabi excuses herself, as well.

"I'm off on a mission soon. We can spar again later!"

Hinata pats Kotori on the head. "Don't worry about Father, okay? He's not good at expressing himself."

"Right."

* * *

Out in the Hidden Leaf, Naruto and Hinata are taking Kotori and Yokumaru to get a look at the city they were born in, and the city the kids are going to live in soon. They made stops at the more important spots, such as a clothes shop to get Yokumaru some actual clothes of his own since he's still actually using the ones Kotori gave him. Throughout the day, many people stop and greet Naruto and try to start up a conversation, but they manage to squeeze their way out and continue on their way, mostly thanks to Naruto using Shadow Clones.

Of course, Naruto insisted they stop by Ichiraku Ramen. The little shop has since expanded from the little stall it used to be with 5 chairs and in the rebuilding following Pain's attack has become a sizable establishment with 5 tables inside that can fit much more people than before. There are still chairs by the bar for those who want to sit closer and that's where they sit down, for old times' sake.

Kotori and Yokumaru take note of a photo on the wall, although it might be more accurate to call it a poster, of the shop owner and Naruto.

Teuchi places bowls in front of Naruto and Hinata, as Ayame places bowls in front of Kotori and Yokumaru.

"There you go. Aren't you two adorable." Ayame is as positive as she usually is.

Teuchi cleans the area they just used to make the portions. "I thought you went off on a mission, Naruto. How'd you get stuck babysitting?"

"We're not babysitting, they're our pupils! And Kotori's our daughter we adopted over at Kusatsu Town."

"What? Adopted?" Ayame stops her fawning over the kids. "Seriously, but you're barely a kid yourself, Naruto. I mean, I can totally see Hinata because she's so responsible and caring, but you…"

Teuchi sagely nods in agreement.

Naruto hunches over his ramen, dejected. "You didn't have to share your thoughts, y'know."

Kotori and Hinata pat him on the back in empathy.

The kids are pretty satisfied by the food, and equally surprised that Naruto was able to eat 5 bowls while they ate 1. They were even more surprised that Hinata apparently matches his appetite. Kotori's been with them for longer but has never seen her eat this much…

As they leave Ichiraku Ramen, they're met by a familiar surprised yell. Or as familiar yells can be.

They turn around to see Konohamaru carrying a baby. "Big Bro, what're you doing here? Weren't you on a mission?"

Time for another explanation.

"We had to come back for a few reasons, so we're on a break."

Udon and Moegi are close behind him carrying some bags, and after them from behind the corner Kurenai Yuhi walks out.

"Kurenai-sensei!" Hinata calls out.

"Oh, Hinata, Naruto, welcome back."

Naruto turns to the kids. "This is Konohamaru, he's kinda my first student, I guess. And that's Udon and Moegi."

"And Kurenai-sensei was my teacher when I first became a Genin." She leans down and the baby grabs and plays with her fingers. "And this is Mirai."

They both introduce themselves.

"Yokumaru Kigatsu."

"Kotori Uzumaki."

"... Uzumaki?" They all ask in unison.

"We adopted her back in Kusatsu Town, so we'd be allowed to take her in and teach her."

"What? Adopted?" Konohamaru looks shocked. "Seriously, but you're barely a kid yourself, Big Bro. I mean, I can totally see Hinata because she's so responsible and caring, but you…"

Déjà vu.

Kurenai walks up to them and leans down, smiling. "It's very nice to meet you, Kotori, Yokumaru." She turns to Naruto and Hinata. "This is quite the surprise. I knew you'd make good teachers but I didn't think it would happen this soon."

"Yes, we certainly weren't expecting it, either."

All of them go on to catch up what they've missed in the past months and what they've been up to. Kurenai and Hinata promise to talk more while they're around and they do. They meet up more at Kurenai's place and she gets the chance to play with Mirai some more.

Unfortunately, every single one of their closer friends is away on a mission so meeting with them would have to wait for a while more.

Yokumaru also makes sure to visit his mom regularly at the hospital.

* * *

It takes an additional two days for all the documents to be put in order and Kotori and the Kigatsus to become official citizens of the Hidden Leaf Village. At the end of the two days, they're all prepared to depart and continue on their mission.

Tsunade hands them their papers.

"Head to the Hidden Stone next."

"Stone? But we might find something if we go to the Hidden Whirlpool first! Old Man Raikage the Hidden Mist's in charge of the land now, right?"

"That's true, but the Hidden Mist has been looking over the ruins at the request of Lord Raikage and myself and they haven't reported any findings. The Hidden Stone, however, has."

"You mean they might know something about the Uzumaki clan?"

"That's right. So head over and see what they've found. When the Hidden Mist has something, you can go there then. For now, this takes priority."

"Gotcha. Thanks, Granny. Actually, that's also a good thing. I was hoping to stop by the Hidden Rain and see Konan." It's been a while, and a part of him couldn't help but wonder why she wasn't with them when they fought Obito and Madara but she must have a lot to deal with.

"Konan, huh?" Tsunade leans on her desk. "After everything that happened, we tried to send people to speak to the Hidden Rain, but it seems to be in civil unrest. The shinobi are fighting among each other for control, and it might just be worse than before."

"What? But Konan should be there to solve that! What's she doing?" Naruto slams both hands on the desk.

Tsunade looks at him angrily and he backs off. Only she's allowed to slam this desk.

"Well, go ask her yourself. Good luck out there."

They take their leave and meet up with the kids. Before they officially leave the village to continue their mission, they make their rounds to say goodbye to the people they know and are around. Konohamaru and his team, Kurenai-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, and Shikamaru. They even check in with Iruka-sensei who has pretty much the same reaction to their current family situation asd everyone else.

Now, they stand at the main gates of the village, ready to set course for the Hidden Rain Village.


	17. Hidden Rain Dispute I

**HIDDEN RAIN DISPUTE I**

The Hidden Rain Village definitely lives up to its name. It's a land that somehow finds itself drenched about 90% of the year and no one is really able to tell how that's possible.

The group had to get some really good insulating cloaks to enter the foreign village, although there was still the question of how that would even happen.

"So, what, do we just walk in?" Naruto looks on to the village, not entirely able to understand how he's completely dry and yet 5 cm in front of him is a heavy downpour.

Kotori and Yokumaru stick their fingers inside the rain and pull back.

"I'm not entirely certain, myself. I know the Hidden Rain has always been secretive and visitors, but if that Konan person really is an ally…"

"She totally is! I know she did some bad stuff, but she did change, we can trust her! Look, how about I find her and we can directly go to her and see what happened." He sits down on the ground cross legged and brings his hands together in a meditative pose.

Hinata makes sure to keep an eye on the kids, so they don't run into the rain and so they don't get ambushed by anyone.

After a few seconds, Naruto gains orange markings around his eyes and his blue eyes are replaced by yellow. Yokumaru stares in awe, being his first time seeing Sage Mode.

Naruto looks around confused. "This isn't right. I'm sensing fighting all over the place but Konan's nowhere to be seen."

"Could she be away, then?"

"Let's go ask."

They lift their hoods' cloaks and enter the rain. The entrance to the village itself is a long bridge going over the rivers flowing around. Usually one walking through would be considered surrounded and an ambush would be easy, unless the person walking over knows Sage Mode or has the Byakugan.

They already know someone is approaching them.

Naruto sends a Shadow Clone off to the side. The Clone reaches further ahead on the bridge and performs hand signs, slamming his hands on the bridge. The water directly under him begins swirling with increasing intensity.

" **Sage Art Water Style: Great Waterfall"**

The jutsu creates a raging whirlpool that reaches down to great depths, the power of the water should crush anyone caught inside it, although it seems like the person manages to avoid taking the brunt of it.

Hinata gathers chakra in both hands and thrusts them to the opposite sides of the bridge.

" **Gentle Fist: Twin Vacuum Palm"**

Just as two figures emerge from the water, they're blown back inside with great force.

Naruto and Hinata keep the kids close. Kotori and Yokumaru are themselves preparing chakra, but are aware there's little they can do in this situation.

The figures emerge from the ground, passing through it like passing through water. Multiple copies of the same 3 people- all of them dressed in white wetsuits, bandage covering the eyes, and a mouthpiece.

But that's not all. He senses two more presences making their way towards the bridge. Back-up for these guys?

"You found us before we could even put you in a genjutsu." One of the three takes a closer look at Naruto. "Hey, Oboro, that's the kid from the Chunin Exams."

"Yeah, you're right. Why are you here?"

"As if a genjutsu was ever gonna work." Naruto and Hinata take a fighting stance. "Where's Konan?"

Oboro of them tilts his head, his large spiky hair wetted by the rain and smooth over. "Konan? You mean that fake Angel? What's it to you, kid?"

"Just answer the damn question! If you're from the Hidden Rain then she's your leader, right? She knows who I am so why are you attacking us?"

All three of them laugh. "As if we'd want that fraud as a leader. We're loyal to Lord Hanzo and his beliefs, and we'll retake _our_ village."

"Why you… Don't you dare call her that!"

The Clones charge at them without warning. Hinata and Naruto strike to disperse them. They're not entirely solid like a Shadow Clone and they seem to have different compositions- some are made of water, others of a more mist-like substance.

Naruto ducks and weaves between them. He knows better than anyone that the best way to deal with Clones is by dealing with the user. Another Clones comes his way but is quickly dispatched, although it does leave some black gunk on him and his clothes.

Before he can strike, Oboro speaks up.

"Konan is dead."

Naruto slows down in shock. His posture slacks off, his footing is off. It's only for a split second, but it's enough.

" **Ninja Art: Seeping Poison"**

Naruto cries out in pain as the black gunk he got on himself earlier burns into his clothes and skin. He can feel his muscles being burned and his chakra being sapped.

" **Water Style: Water Fang Bullet"**

The liquid left behind by water clones swirls into a spiral and lashes out and hits Naruto in the back.

"Naruto!" "Dad!" "Sensei" Hinata, Kotori, and Yokumaru cry out.

They've had their own onslaught to deal with. Hinata's more than capable of keeping multiple foes at bay, especially Clones. Yokumaru's been using his Crystal Wall to give themselves cover, while Kotori's been sending out Feather Kunai to hit even more of them.

Oboro leans down. "Guess you haven't changed that much since the Exams, kid."

Naruto looks up and smirks. "You'd be surprised."

"Talk big, but your chakra's being drained as we speak. You'll barely be able to use a Clone."

He laughs. "Well, I never was good at that, anyway." A shroud of orange chakra surrounds him, covering him on black markings. The chakra pressure is immense. Team Oboro step back in fear. "And. You have no idea how much chakra I have."

In reality, Naruto probably could have done this earlier but he doesn't know whether these guys have some method of escape like that masked guy from Kusatsu. So he waited until it became too late for them, and the pressure he's giving off masks the person who snuck closer. Whoever the two other ninja are, it became clear to him, their targets are these three and not them. They're the enemy of his enemy, but whether that makes them an ally remains to be seen.

It's too late for Oboro to notice a presence appearing behind. Emerging from the haze is a woman with long green hair, her headband worn as a bandana, and a facemask. She stabs Oboro in the back with an umbrella and pushes him forward. The umbrella expands and needles fly out to the other two, Mubi and Kagari.

Hinata rushes to Mubi and cuts off his chakra points. Naruto lunges at Kagari and knocks him out with a single Frog Strike to the gut. The two of them fall unconscious.

Oboro slips through the ground and into the water. They try to keep track of him, but his chakra grows fainter until it disappears.

The second presence he felt earlier makes her presence known behind the first woman. Her fringe hiding her left eye, she takes a good look at them, as Naruto stops using his chakra cloak. Hinata comes by him with the kids and shuts off some of his chakra points so the poison doesn't spread too far in his system.

The woman with the covered eye draws closer and activates the Mystic Palm. "I can get it out of your system." Naruto allows her. "My name's Fuyo, and that's my teammate Suiren." She points to the green-haired woman.

"You're a Hyuga, from the Hidden Leaf."

Hinata looks to Suiren. "Yes, I am. You've met the Hyuga clan?"

"We faced one at the last joint Chunin Exams 2 years ago, but circumstances lead us to work together."

"I see." If it was the Chunin Exams, then there was only one other Hyuga present. Neji. So they've worked with his team.

Fuyo gets a closer look at the blonde she's healing. "You. You're Naruto Uzumaki, aren't you?"

"What? Yeah, how do you know? Have we met?'

"No." She shakes her head. "But Lady Ange-, no, Lady Konan gave a very vivid description of you. She spoke very highly of you and your shared ideals."

"Konan did… Wait, those guys said she's dead!" He nearly jumps up remembering. "Is that true? She can't be dead, right?"

"That's… complicated. It might be better if we take you to our base. I know you're not obligated to help us, but ... Lady Konan respected you a great deal. I beg you." She lowers her head.

Naruto and Hinata share a look.

"Of course."

* * *

At the base, Team Oboro are locked away and awaiting interrogation. The 4 Leaf ninja are sitting on a bench, opposite of them is a man with flowing light blue hair and a young boy around Kotori and Yokumaru's age, with purple hair. Fuyo and Suiren are standing behind them.

"I'm afraid you come at a rather tumultuous time." The man speaks. "My name is Bairin and this is my charge, Mutsu." He motions to the boy. "Mutsu, you don't need to stay. Go out and rest."

The boy nods and goes to leave without a word. Hinata turns to Kotori and Yokumaru. "Why don't you go out, too? This is a pretty personal matter, okay? Chat with Mutsu, maybe you can become friends."

"Okay." The two follow outside.

Naruto's gaze follows the purple-haired boy. He feels like he's met him before but that can't be possible.

Bairin sighs. "Right. As I was saying, I'm the leader of our faction that supports Lady An- Lady Konan."

"So what happened to her?"

Bairin sighs. "I'm not entirely sure what you know and where I should begin. But about a year ago, Lady Konan returned and said things would change for the Hidden Rain. She said how we could put our trust in other nations and villages, she spoke how _you_ , Naruto Uzumaki, changed her viewpoints and made her believe in a better world."

Fuyo fiddles with her umbrella. "It was… a drastic change, but she told us the truth about Akatsuki, and Lord Pain and herself. We always held them in such high regard, we saw them as our saviour and yet they were not unlike us, in a way."

Naruto is getting antsy. "Look I get that a lot of things have happened and it hasn't always been easy. That's exactly why Nagato and Konan did what they did. But she's my fellow pupil who studied under the same master. She said she'd change the Hidden Rain and now those guys..." He points to the general direction they were taken. "... tell me she's dead? What. Happened." Each word is said with a slightly more raised voice.

Kotori and Yokumaru sense the pressure he gives off, that they didn't even think he was capable of giving ogg. Hinata, seeing this, tries to calm him down. "Naruto please."

Suiren steps forward. "Watch how you speak-"

Bairin raises a hand to stop her from continuing. "You're right. I blabbed on. I apologize. We found her in critical condition by the lake, she was… as close to dying as one can be while still alive. We rushed her over and tried to heal but she wasn't getting any better so we used our machines to keep her alive until we can actually heal her. Some who felt betrayed, who still held some loyalty to Hanzo's old rule, used this chance to split off and took the machine and Lady Konan with it. We don't know where they're keeping her."

Naruto clenches his fists. "Damnit. But if she's still alive, then I should be sensing _some_ chakra from her."

Fuyo shakes her head. "There are seals placed on the machine. We hoped to prevent her from being found in her vulnerable state, but we were betrayed and it's ended up working against us. Now _we_ can't find her."

"So how are we supposed to find her?"

"What about my Byakugan?" Hinata looks around the room.

"Ah." Bairin gasps. "That's right, your eyes. But can you cover such a wide area? We're not exactly able to move freely."

"With my abilities as they are, the Hidden Rain Village is far too big, but…" She turns to Naruto. "... if my chakra were to be boosted."

"Ah, just like we did during the War!"

"Precisely."

Bairin looks between the two of them. "Then, you can transfer chakra to others and boost their abilities?"

"Yep, sure can! I got a lot of chakra so it's a pretty powerful boost!"

" _ **Hah, what do you mean**_ **you** _**have a lot of chakra? It's**_ **my** _**chakra you're transferring."**_

Naruto replies in his Mind Space. "Look, let's not sweat the details, alright?"

"Then could you also transfer chakra to Fuyo? She's a sensory type and a competent one, at that. We've been trying to locate the two leaders of the opposing faction, Hiru and Numeri, but with little result."

"Take out the leaders on top of everything? Do we truly have the time to do that, as well?"

"We must. There are two scrolls needed to operate the machine that's healing Lady Konan and I know for a fact they're each carrying one. We need to get those scrolls back."

Naruto stands up, pumping his fist. "Right, let's go!"

"Right now? Don't you wish to rest?"

"No time for that. We gotta get Konan back!"

* * *

As the children step outside, Mutsu is very quiet and reserved. Kotori and Yokumaru catch up to him.

"Hey, my name's Kotori. It's nice to meet you."

"And I'm Yokumaru."

Mutsu remains quiet and somewhat standoff-ish. He's acting like he didn't hear them which may very well be true since he looks sleep deprived. A voice rings in his head. " _Mutsu."_ A woman's voice that he neither knows nor recognizes. His head starts ringing and he falls to his knees.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kotori goes to his aid.

He turns around surprised to see someone there. "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." He picks himself up. "Umm…" He looks like he has a question to ask but is too shy to ask.

"I guess you didn't hear us the first time. I'm Kotori and this is Yokumaru."

"Hi." The boy waves.

"I'm… Mutsu. Sorry." He stands up by propping himself against the wall and goes to a nearby exit leading outside to a terrace, followed by the other two. He sits down and holds his head as the rain falls and spatters on the ground some floors below them.

"Hey, are you sure you're fine? You don't look so good." Kotori looks him over.

"Just a headache. I just need to sleep it off."

"How's that worked for you?" Yokumaru crosses his arms.

Mutsu gives a faint smile. "Not well. I keep… hearing a voice. A lady I don't know keeps calling my name."

Kotori and Yokumaru share a look. "Uhh, is that normal?"

Mutsu shrugs. "Wasn't before. But please don't worry." He tries to give a smile but his tiredness wins. "Why are you all here?"

"Oh, Dad said he wanted to meet a friend here but it sounds like… that's not gonna work out."

"Say, is rain usually this bad around here?"

"Yeah, I think that's why it's called the Hidden Rain Village."

"... Good point."

" _Mutsu."_ Another jolt of the pain. That voice again. He feels like he's being pulled somewhere, like he knows where the voice is coming from, but he's too afraid of it. He hasn't even told Bairin and the man raised him.

He stares in the direction he feels the voice coming from.

* * *

Naruto made his way to the top of a tower a bit further ahead, trying to get the entire village in his range. Hinata and Fuyo are with him.

"So, what do we do?" Fuyo looks between the two of them.

"Just use your abilities, and Naruto will do the rest."

Fuyo focuses her chakra on her sensory abilities as Hinata activates her Byakugan. The Rain kunoichi can't help but be curious about the Hyuga clan's abilities, having seen them in action once already.

"Just like before, I can't sense far."

"I believe I can see why; this isn't normal rain, it's infused with chakra. It's also interfering with my Byakugan, my vision is blurry."

Naruto stretches as if he's about to exercise.

"Alright, let's get to it." He enters his Tailed Beast chakra mode, causing Fuyo to gasp in surprise and a bit of admiration. He places a hand on the two kunoichi and a cloak of red chakra surrounds them, 2 pointed ears and a single tail swishing back and forth.

"W-wow. I can sense so much farther than before. But the rain is still getting in the way. Wait, I can feel them and… so many more! They're headed this way!"

"Dozens of them!" Hinata scans with her Byakugan.

"Damnit, already?" Naruto creates several Shadow Clones, and sends some of them to warn Bairin so they can prepare, while the remaining Clones go off to fend the attackers. "I'm feeling a theme of us being attacked by large forces. Fuyo, which ones are Hiru and Numeri? We'll go directly for them."

"Hiru is 5 blocks north/north-east on top of a tower, Numeri is 4 blocks north at the base. She's… weaving a lot of chakra."

"Alright, you go prepare with Bairin."

"What about you two?"

Hinata stands up. "We're going, before they retreat."

The two Flicker away while Fuyo goes down.

Along the way, they avoid the attacking Rain ninja as much as they can, using their respective abilities. What they can't avoid for long are the giant creatures that appear in front of them.

In 3 towering blasts of smoke, Summoning creatures charge out directly for them. A buffalo, a leech, and a salamander. The Salamander shoots a ball of fire but they manage to dodge.

"Naruto, if you go into Nine Tails mode…"

"I know. We still don't know where Konan is." He bites his finger. "If Kurama and I fight here, we'll end up destroying a lot of buildings." He smears the blood on his palm. "I'm not used to fighting in tight places, so I'll just get someone who is." He forms the seals and extends his palm, markings manifesting in the air.

" **Ninja Art Summoning: Big Three"**

Another large blast of smoke, probably bigger than the one just before, fills the air.

The leech tries to slither by to get to its targets but it's met by a sasumata, a 2-pronged studded spear. Gamaken digs his weapon deep into the ground, crushing the leech's body so it can't wiggle free. "Sorry if I'm clumsy."

The buffalo's running forward horns first but is met by 2 katana blades. Gamahiro jumps above it, still intertwining his blades with the horn. He flicks his wrists and the buffalo does a somersault in the air. Before it can crash into a building, the blue toad slashes down with both swords to drop it to the ground, where the bovine lands with a splash that sends waves throughout the streets.

The salamander gathering fire in its throat is met by a blast of water, sending it flying back. Gamabunta hops to it and shuts its mouth closed, slashing with his tanto blade. "I ain't the way I used to be, and you're no Ibuse. Naruto, whatever you're doing, do it quick."

"That's the plan, Boss."

* * *

Mutsu's headaches are getting stronger. He feels himself being pulled to a specific direction. Kotori and Yokumaru are to the side, having a discussion about Mutsu.

"I dunno, should we just go back inside?" Yokumaru expresses his concern.

"We can't leave him. Come on, just play nice."

"We don't have to be his friends, you know. You don't have to befriend everyone."

"Worked for you, didn't it?" Kotori gives a cocky grin.

Yokumaru grumbles. "Fine, we'll stay. But if he keeps at it, I'm going inside where it's warm."

They turn around, only to see Mutsu climbing down the stairs.

"Hey, wait up!" Both of them run after. "Where're you going?"

Mutsu is very purposefully not looking down as he uses the stairs. "I gotta find her. I gotta go to her."

"Go to who?"

"I don't know!" Mutsu practically screams, his headache not helping the situation.

The purple-haired boy reaches the bottom and begins running at full speed.

Just as Kotori reaches the bottom herself, Yokumaru hesitates. "We should go tell the grown-ups!"

The girl just keeps running without looking back. "There's no time!"

Yokumaru muses to himself. "Is she gonna be like this the whole time?"

* * *

Several Rain shinobi fall to the ground in front of Numeri. She's crouched in the centre of what appears to be a large summoning formula.

Hinata lands in front of her, taking a stance.

Numeri places her mouth piece. "Leaf. You have business in the Hidden Rain, you've never had any business in the Hidden Rain yet you always come and do as you please. No more." She slams her hand on the ground.

" **Ninja Art Summoning"**

The water that has fallen, and even the water that's about to fall, is drawn to the circle. Rather than the usual puff of smoke that appears when a creature is summoned, this summon seems to materialize itself from the water around.

Blobs of water grow larger and larger, enveloping the entire area and protecting Numeri.

The giant slime fully emerges and is ready to attack.

* * *

Naruto reaches the top of a tower. Even though it's so high up, it's actually a large even area for purposes he doesn't really know. Either way, the person Fuyo identified as Hiru is here. Sitting on the ground.

He's cross legged in the traditional Rain uniform. Flak jacket, mouthpiece, cloak over his shoulders. He's not moving.

Naruto remains on the ledge.

"You're being cautious. Good. I was told you're an impulsive brat but it would appear not."

"So you know who I am."

"Of course I do. That moron Oboro wouldn't recognize a jinchuriki if it clawed his face off." Hiru stands up. "I know you're here for Konan. She spoke a lot about Naruto Uzumaki from the Hidden Leaf. Disgustingly so."

"That makes it easier then. Where is she?"

"You'll find out when you join her in the afterlife."

He whips out several kunai with tags attached to their handles. He throws them in all directions. Whether side Naruto dodges towards, he'll be caught in the explosion.

The explosion tags go off, detonating each other in a domino effect of blasts that resound throughout the area. The smoke is visible from nearly every part of the city.

When the smoke and high pitched squeal die down, Naruto is nowhere to be seen. He jumps up onto the platform again.

"You'll have to try harder."

"Oh, I will."

Hiru takes out a small metal ball and plays around with it in his hand.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NAME MEANINGS
> 
> Bairin (バイリン, Bairin) = 'rainy season'
> 
> Mutsu (ムツ, Mutsu) = the name of a Japanese battleship
> 
> Hiru (ヒル) = 'leech'
> 
> Numeri (ヌメリ) = 'slime'
> 
> TRIVIA
> 
> Fuyo and Suiren are Ajisai's (female Animal Path) teammates from the 'In Naruto's Footsteps: The Friends' Paths' arc (Naruto Shippuden 394-413)


	18. Hidden Rain Dispute II

**HIDDEN RAIN DISPUTE II**

" **Gentle Fist: Vacuum Palm"**

A large pressure of chakra, boosted by Naruto and Kurama sharing their chakra, is sent at the Ooze summon in an attempt to clear a way to its summoner, Numeri, in the center of it. She's actually able to somehow be surrounded by this gunk and not suffocate. Is it the mouthpiece? Those things sure are handy.

The giant slime is blown back a bit but its wiggly texture endures from being completely separated. It manages to keep its general form.

Hinata clicks her tongue. Even that wasn't powerful enough to splatter it?

Numeri gathers the slime back together. She lifts her hands and the slime changes its shape, becoming leaner and taller. She then lowers her hands to the side and its expands like a tidal wave.

Hinata jumps to avoid it, climbing on the side of the buildings. Numeri leads the slime to follow Hinata wherever she goes.

" **Gentle Fist: Body Blow"**

As it draws near her, she releases chakra from every part of her body to at least temporarily stall the appendage following her.

What follows is a game of cat and mouse, with Hinata gracefully dodging and Numeri getting increasingly frustrated and increasing how much of the slime's mass is dedicated to attack and how much to defend. Neither of them can get the upper hand, until at the height of Numeri's anger, Hinata Flickers right above her.

She reels back both elbows and prepares for a strike. She crosses her hands, sending down even larger pressures of chakra.

" **Gentle Fist: Vacuum Wall Palm"**

The little slime around Numeri that remained for protection is blown away, and Hinata lands right next to her, preparing to strike.

Crouching, one hand extended frontward to the ground and another - backward to the air, palms upward.

" **Eight Trigrams: Two Palms"** Two strikes to the shoulder and stomach. When she pulls her arms back, they're covered in slime. " **Four Palms"** Another two strikes to the arms. More slime surrounds Numeri. " **Four Palms"** Three strikes land but the fourth time, her hand becomes enveloped in slime. The summon has regained some of its mass and is protecting its summoner.

She releases chakra from her hand to blow it away, and dodges back. A failed 64 Palms, the ooze is too thick to let her penetrate to her chakra network. She prepares for another Vacuum Palm, so far it seems like her best bet to clear away the mucus, even temporarily. She can try to work on the chakra points in intervals.

Before she can release it, she's forced to jump upward as the Slime is recovering its all around and tries to strike her from behind. Numeri cries out in pain, not having full control of her chakra. Thankfully, her Slime isn't fully dependent on chakra, so she can still control. This time it's all offence, no defence.

The entirety of the Slime's body which was scattered everywhere goes upward, surrounding Hinata from every direction. She uses her Body Blow to send it back, but the slime that was too far to be affected continues its march. It grabs onto her arms, her legs, her chest. She's completely covered in the ooze as it begins crushing and suffocating her.

"Nowhere to run now. Die, and regret ever getting involved."

Numeri turns to leave Hinata to her fate.

Inside the ball of ooze, Hinata tries to blow it away but it's now far too thick to be affected. She has one option left that she can think of. A technique that she's never used in actual combat before.

She stops resisting and closes her eyes. She focuses, despite the pressure, despite the terrible feeling and when she opens her eyes, they're not the pale Byakugan. Instead, they're light blue, with a white flowery pattern around her iris.

" **Tenseigan"**

Her hand surrounds itself in light blue chakra, not unlike Naruto when he uses Kurama's chakra. The light blue chakra burns the slime and it begins bubbling. Chakra gathers around her entire arm and forms into what looks like a spear made of pure chakra.

She aims her hand at Numeri and releases the chakra spear, which sends it blasting right through the Slime and into Numeri's back. The Rain kunoichi is sent flying into a wall. The Slime's temporary unstable form allows Hinata to free herself. She lands on the ground, panting in exhaustion. The Tenseigan is exhausting her more than she thought, that single attack drained more of her than she intended. As Numeri begins picking herself back up, Hinata gathers more chakra. It surrounds her entire arm, taking on a feline shape.

" **Gentle Step: Lion Wave"**

She sends the chakra flying, creating a wave much greater than her normal Twin Lion Fist. It washes over her foe and the immense damage knocks her out. The Tenseigan reverts back into the Byakugan.

She can't allow herself to rest as the Slime behind her is not disappearing. It's… actually growing bigger and wilder? It's thrashing around violently, slamming into the surrounding buildings and ground.

Hinata grabs Numeri and jumps up to get some higher ground and gauge her options. Was she not controlling it? Or rather, was she keeping it at bay and preventing it from going berserk. Great, how do you stop an expanding slime. Before she can gather her thoughts and formulate a plan, a giant two-pronged spear whooshes past her.

It embeds into the slime and Gamaken begins spinning it like spaghetti. Gamahiro and Gamabunta hop over, as well, to slice it into pieces but it doesn't stick. It quickly puts itself back together. And snatches away their weapons.

"Damn. Hey, girlie, what is this thing?"

"I'm not entirely sure. It's a form of Summoning but it's not going away, and the summoning formula is gone, too, so I don't know how to get rid of it."

A voice comes from behind her. "Dry it." She turns to see Bairin land on the roof next to her. "I saw this thing expanding, it's sucking in moisture and it has the potential of covering the entire village."

"But how do we dry it if it's raining?"

"I have a way. Toads, could you keep it at bay?"

"We might be a bit clumsy, though." Gamaken brings up his shield and body slams the slimes, while Hiro and Bunta will have to rely on Frog Kata.

Bairin brings his hands together and amasses a great amount of chakra. A whirling wind surrounds him before he sends it forward. It keeps growing and growing in intensity, loose cables on the nearby buildings being ripped and torn.

"Get away from it!"

Bunta and Hiro slam it back with their giant hands and the three of them hop back.

" **Typhoon Style: Great Consecutive Bursting Extreme Winds"**

A giant tornado appears right over it, extending far into the skies. It completely disperses the rain and even blows away the water under it.

"Girlie, you got any Fire Style jutsu? We can burn it dry."

"I don't, but I do have explosion tags."

"Close enough."

All three toads' cheeks puff out and they release streams of brown liquid.

" **Sage Art: Toad Oil Bomb"**

As the oil hits the tornado, it quickly spreads through it to the point. At this point, Hinata throws the explosion tags which are swept into the air current and are blown to all heights. They all duck for cover before she releases the seals.

The resulting explosion is loud and many of the nearby buildings are set on fire from it. Some ninja of the opposing faction are caught up in the blast.

Bairin releases his Typhoon Style and the slime is a puddle on the ground, its dry form compressing and pulsating until it eventually stops.

Bairin's people had been told to sit back and wait, and this is their cue to no longer wait. They make use of Bairin's tornado and the distraction it caused to swoop in and take the upper hand. The two factions are now in full battle.

Hinata and Bairin take the time to inspect what Numeri is carrying, and the Rain ninja identifies the scroll needed for the machine keeping Konan alive.

"This is it. Now we just need to get Hiru's."

As Hinata turns around to where Naruto went to meet the other Rain ninja, she sees a giant shining pagoda that she'd been too absorbed in combat to notice. It's translucent and some chakra is gathering in the roof, seemingly being sucked in from something at its base.

At this time, her Nine Tails shroud disappears, which it shouldn't do unless something happened to Naruto.

As the giant toads prepare to go check on it, they stop "Our chakra…" and they disappear back to Mount Myoboku. Once again, this is something that shouldn't happen unless the summoner is in danger.

The realization puts her in a mild state of panic. "I'm going to Naruto."

"I'm coming, as well."

* * *

During all the commotion, the three kids had snuck under the city and into the sewers. It stinks.

"It stinks." Yokumaru's pinching his nose trying to keep the smells away.

"Hey, Mutsu, I really don't think you should be going this far. There's fighting up there, isn't there?" Kotori is following closely. She was originally all for coming along with Mutsu, but they've gotten so far away and they didn't even tell anyone. This was a terrible idea.

"There's always fighting here. It doesn't bother me."

"That's… really sad."

Mutsu just shrugs. "Why did you even come?"

"Well, because! You'd be lonely by yourself, right? And you look like you might need help."

"And I'm mostly following her."

"I'm not lonely. I just… like being alone." Another headache. They've been getting more and more severe as they come closer. " _Mutsu"_ the voice just keeps calling his name over and over.

The kids reach an exit latch and find themselves inside a building, rather than on the streets. It's different from the usual architecture of the Hidden Rain that consists of metallic plates and tubing. This place is cleaner than that, made of marble. Multiple pillars line the hallway and the only piece of decoration is a rectangle of some kind against the wall, with stairs leading up to it.

The kids cautiously come up and close the lid.

They make their way to the stairs to see it's in fact a memorial of some kind. The rectangle is lined with white flowers and a man is laid to rest atop them. Orange hair with multiple piercings on his ears and nose, dressed in robes with red clouds.

Kotori tugs at Mutsu's shirt. "Hey, look at that."

They all turn to where Kotori is pointing. A large machine is placed in the corner, very much in contrast to the room. It's bulky and about as wide as a bed. It has tags and seals all over it and a large glass lid. Drawing closer, they see a woman in the same robes as the man in the flowerbed, blue hair and make-up that's faded over time.

Mutsu presses himself against the glass. "This is her. She's the one calling me, I know it."

"Do you know her? Who is she?" Yokumaru and Kotori join him.

"I… I don't know. I've never seen her before."

"Is she… you know, alive?" Yokumaru looks skeptical.

Kotori elbows him in the ribs. "Don't just say stuff like that! If she was, she'd be in the flowers, too, right?"

"I guess?"

"I think everyone was talking about someone being missing. I think… this is maybe her?"

Metal echoes in the distance. Footsteps. They quickly dart behind the large memorial for the orange-haired man, hoping they're not spotted. Some people walk past the entrance to this room.

"And Lord Hiru's out for this jinchuriki?"

"Yeah, apparently. All of this is weird, innit? Lady Konan talked about-" The man receives a smack on the head.

"Don't call her 'Lady'. She lied to us all these years about everything. Now we just gotta rely on Lord Hiru to actually pull us to greatness and rise above the other villages."

The man rubs the back of his head. "Didn't have to hit me." He grumbles. "I still kinda feel bad, y'know?"

"I get what ya mean. I wanted to believe, too, but if she's dead… Nothing we can do about it."

The kids do their best to keep quiet and are praying they leave soon. Mutsu's heavy breathing might give them away soon and his headache is flaring up again. " _Mutsu"._ He lets out a grunt and his hand taps the floor, making an audible sound.

"Ey, someone in here?"

Kotori and Yokumaru look at each in shock. They have nowhere to run, and they can't really escape from two grown men.

One of them steps inside, kunai in hand. "Hello?"

Yokumaru grabs Mutsu by the arm and is ready to bolt. He has experience running away from people, he might be able to. But could Kotori and Mutsu?

Kotori puts a hand over his, signaling him to not do anything rash. She forms a series of hand signs, and several small birds materialize and fly upward.

The Rain ninja is startled and ready to pounce but relaxes when he sees it's no threat.

"Just some birds."

"Little fellas must've gotten in to hide from the rain. Can't blame 'em."

"Come on, let's go."

The kids wait to hear the footsteps fade from earshot before they can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

* * *

Over on the top of the tower, Naruto has found himself in a bind.

He's currently being held in place by multiple chains, originating from tags all around him. His neck, his hands, and his legs are all chained. Chakra is being siphoned from him. Sealing formulas under him keep him at bay. The chakra is being sent to the roof of the pagoda that surrounds him.

Hiru is heavily panting, his flak jacket cut and slashed, his mouthpiece all but destroyed. "Damn, you don't go down easy, do you, kid?"

Naruto cries out in pain. "Damn you, what is this?"

"This…" He draws closer and taps the pagoda. "... is a memento from our so-called God and Angel. A way to trap jinchuriki. They had a lot of information on Tailed Beasts and how to capture them."

Naruto tries to struggle free but to no avail. "And you just took it? What were you planning on doing with all of this?"

"Well, use it, obviously. I was going to go after one of the Tailed Beasts you all stupidly let roam free, but imagine my surprise when a jinchuriki just waltzes in!"

"You won't get away with this! We'll stop you!"

Hiru looks out to the village. "You won't. All these seals, all these barriers. They're S-rank. Even a free Tailed Beast would struggle. I'll collect your chakra once you're fully drained." He Flickers away, moments before Hinata and Bairin arrive and see the situation.

"Naruto" Hinata cries out as she comes to the pagoda. "What is this?"

"A barrier of some kind?" Bairin examines it. "I'm sorry to say, I don't know much about barrier or seals."

"Hinata, it's fine. Don't worry."

"How could I not?!" She tries using her Gentle Fist, but she doesn't have a whole lot of chakra left.

"Hinata, it's fine." The Naruto inside disappears in a puff of smoke.

"W-what?"

"That was a Shadow Clone." Naruto's voice comes from behind them.

Hinata runs into his chest and lightly pounds on his chest. "You had me worried."

Naruto embraces her. "Sorry."

The pagoda begins fading from existence now that its trapped target is no longer inside. The Nine Tails chakra is free to return to its original owner.

Bairin looks confused. "But how?"

"That Hiru guys was trying to lure the real me to a specific spot, so I kept my distance. But I figured I couldn't play games for long, y'know? So I made him think that was the real me and had to focus all my chakra to keep it from disappearing."

"And now what?"

"Well, I thought that even if we get those scrolls, we still won't know where Konan is. I thought he might let slip where she is if he thought he won, y'know? Now we can follow him and maybe find where he's keeping her."

"I see. Good thinking."

"So where _did_ he go?" Hinata breaks away from him and looks around.

"Let's find out."

Naruto stays completely still for a few seconds to activate Sage Mode. Hinata activates her Byakugan, but it doesn't last long. She still has little chakra.

Fuyo and Suiren join them on the tower in a panicked state. "Bairin! Mutsu is gone! And so are the Leaf kids!"

"Kotori and Yokumaru?! How?!" Hinata forgets to look for Hiru after hearing this news.

Naruto focuses even more intently to find them. "I sense where they are. Hiru… he's going for the same building…"

"Then we need to hurry."

"Yeah, let's finish this."

* * *


	19. Hidden Rain Dispute III

**HIDDEN RAIN DISPUTE III**

Hiru made a run for it toward the main tower that once 'Lady Angel' used as the spot for people to meet her at. He saw it fitting to begin using it for himself since he intends to take over the village. He saw for himself the Slime going berserk, which would only mean Numeri was taken out and Bairin has one of the scrolls. Can't let them have the other.

He makes his way to the lowest floor, where Konan's healing pod is.

The building rumbles. He hears the sounds of combat. Those guys don't let up, do they?

Gotta move the pod and get it to a better location. She can still be used as a bargaining chip. When he gets there, he sees from the corner of his eye, three kids behind the giant memorial flower bed.

"And who might you be?" He draws closer.

"S-stay back!" Yokumaru stands in front of the other two. His legs are shaking a bit. He's lived a rough life and had to deal with a lot of scum, but this guy's a ninja. This might be the first time his life's been in actual danger.

"We'll have a little chat, you and me."

" **Ninja Art Feather Curtain"**

Dozens of small sparrow feathers surround Hiru which he swats away but some of it still gets in his eyes and mouth, not expecting this kind of assault.

" **Crystal Style: Crystal Wall"**

As practiced before, a crystalline structure appears from under Hiru's feet. He's off balance for a split second, but they'd already ran the moment Yokumaru used his jutsu.

"You damn brats! You think you can make a mockery out of me?!"

" **Lightning Style: Ball Lightning"**

Several orbs of electricity appear around him, charging up in power. He sends up right for the kids.

" **Ninja Art: Feather Kunai"**

" **Crystal Style: Crystal Wall"**

Both of them try to deflect them before they can reach even the halfway point, but the Feathers are burnt to a crisp and the crystal walls are shattered into pieces. Before they can act again, the wall behind Hiru bursts open.

Hinata stands at an elevated position, both hands stretched upward, where a wall used to be just second ago. Two figures jump out, winds howling around them.

" **Wind Style: Wind Blade"** Bairin hands are surrounded by miniature whirling winds, sharp as a knife. He sends them flying at the lightning orbs.

" **Wind Style: Twin Rasengan"** Naruto sends his jutsu flying. Not as big or devastating as the Rasenshuriken, but they expand nonetheless and disperse the electricity.

What balls of lightning weren't dispersed, hit the walls instead, not being close enough to hurt anyone.

Hinata jumps down and lands next to them.

"You disgust me, Hiru. Attacking children?" Bairin picks himself up.

"I'm not the one who sent children to do his spywork. Are you that short on personnel?"

Unfortunately, Hiru is still between them and the kids. They can't get to safety until he's taken care of but a fight would put them in danger.

"Let the kids go!" Naruto makes his demand.

"Why would I?" An expected response. "When I could instead do this." He throws several shuriken at the three of them.

It's simple enough to dodge but there's no way that's all of it. And it isn't.

" **Lightning Style: Lightning Net"**

Lightning chakra emanates from the shuriken and connects each of them to the others, weaving a complex net.

All of them are mid jump or dodge, and with not enough time to weave chakra to push them away like the balls of lightning, but Naruto has something up his sleeve that doesn't require it. He reaches into his pouch and takes out shuriken of his own and imbues them with Wind chakra, just like Asuma-sensei showed him.

The Wind-shuriken strike the lightning ones and manage to weaken them enough to clatter to the ground and disperse the electricity.

Bairin brings his hands together.

" **Wind Style: Breakthrough"**

A large gust of wind rushes to Hiru but he manages to step out of the way.

" **Gentle Step: Vacuum Palm"**

Hinata sends wind pressure of her own towards him by standing just behind Naruto. The blonde catches a ride along, his speed boosted greatly by her jutsu. He gathers chakra in his palm.

" **Rasengan!"**

The increased speed also increases the strength as Naruto slams his signature jutsu in Hiru's chest and sends him flying into a wall. Naruto, not really having any solid footing, skids on the ground.

Hinata beckons the kids. "Hurry, come to us!" They all run.

"Damn… you…" Hiru's voice comes from the dust kicked up from his crash. "DAMN YOU!" Lightning cackles around him.

" **Lightning Style: Thunderbolt"**

Jolts are sent flying everywhere, destroying the walls, the pillars, the mural above the flower bed. Naruto, being the closest, immediately goes to protect the kids. Hinata rushes to them, as well.

One errant bolt goes flying upward, destroys the ceiling and then comes flying down towards Konan's pod. Naruto sees this and for a moment, his mind is split. Protect the kids, and protect Konan. He forms a Shadow Clone but someone already beat him to it.

Mutsu makes a run for the pod.

"No! Get back!" Bairin calls out. There's not enough time for a Wind Style jutsu to stop it.

Naruto's Shadow Clone goes after the young boy just as the bolt reaches.

A giant explosion follows, with even more dust being kicked up.

"MUTSU!" Bairin calls out again, praying for a response.

They wait with bated breath, but Naruto knows one thing for certain. His Clone hasn't disappeared.

When the dust clears, they see Naruto's Clone surrounded by papers. Multiple pure white sheets of paper surround him and the pod, forming a protective layer.

"That's… Konan's jutsu…"

"Lady Konan… has awoken?"

But when they look just behind Naruto, they see Mutsu sitting on the ground with his arms extended but… he has no hands. Instead, sheets of paper fly out of his sleeve, and part of his face looks like it's made of paper, too.

They all look shocked. All except Bairin, who just balls up his fists.

Naruto's Clone looks back with a surprised expression. "Mutsu? But how?"

"You… you have _her_ jutsu?" Hiru brings himself up to his feet, leaning against the wall. "What the hell is this, Bairin!" Hiru turns to face his foe.

While everyone was busy being in shock, Bairin had sprung into action. In the moment of hesitation and confusion, he'd already closed the distance and is in front of Hiru, sickles of wind around his hand.

"It doesn't concern you. **Wind Style: Wind Blade"**

The sickles dig deep into Hiru, shredding his flak jacket, his shirt, and his skin. He's pressed against the wall and falls limp on the ground.

Bairin stands over him, breathing heavily.

Naruto approaches him. "Hey."

The temporary Rain leader doesn't look to him. "We can talk about it later. We have a victory to declare." He goes through Hiru's possessions to find the scroll for Konan's pod.

"Fine."

Bairin grabs the corpse and heads out. Proof of the leader being dead is the best way to lower morale and get forces to scatter.

Kotori and Yokumaru run to Mutsu's side.

Naruto squats down with them. "You guys did great."

"But you'll still have to explain why you were even here." Hinata joins them.

"Sorry, Mom." "Sorry, Sensei." The two lower their heads.

* * *

Things have calmed down in the Hidden Rain after the defeat of both Numeri and Hiru. Some abandoned ship and ran from the village while other surrendered and left themselves to their fates.

The main group had sat down in a room, ready to have a difficult conversation.

Bairin turns to Mutsu. "Mutsu, why don't you step outside for a bit."

Mutsu grasps onto the hem of his shirt. "I don't wanna. You said to hide my jutsu and not let anyone know. Is it 'cause of that woman? Is that why everyone was surprised?"

"Mr. Bairin, he has a right to know." Hinata can't help but sympathize with the boy.

Naruto is already putting some pieces together. "When we first got here, I sensed some chakra that felt familiar but wasn't coming from him. So does that mean…"

Bairin nods. "Yes. He is Lady Konan's child."

Fuyo and Suiren gasp in surprise. "Lady Angel's? But how could that be?"

He places a hand on the boy's head. "About 8 years ago, she approached me with a baby. Asked me to raise it as my own and not tell anyone that she left him in my care. I didn't know he was hers, but I had my suspicions, which were proven a few months ago when he started displaying the same abilities as her."

Mutsu looks down at his hand, causing papers to appear.

"So you told him to hide it so no one would find out."

"Yes. I told him the truth, or part of it. That his mother was someone important and so he should never tell anyone what he can do."

"And… you're not my dad?" Mutsu hasn't looked up.

Bairin goes quiet for a moment. "No, I'm sorry."

"Then who is?" Naruto asks, but going by the chakra he senses from the boy, he might already know the answer.

Bairin shakes his head. "I do not know. I never asked."

Hinata squats down to eye level with Mutsu. "It'll be fine, dear."

"My mom didn't want me."

"That's not true at all! Lady Konan feared what may happen if it was known you're her son. The danger you were in today? That would have happened to you almost every day." Bairin tries to reassure the young boy. "I'm sure she cares about you as any mother would."

Mutsu doesn't seem convinced.

Naruto stands to his feet and puts on his flak jacket he'd taken off. "No point in guessing, right? If you don't know what kind of person Konan is, let's just ask her."

"But… she's still in a coma and we still have no way of waking her up. We don't have the medical training."

"Don't worry about that, I know just the people to help." Naruto smiles knowingly.

"Of course, we can get her to Lady Tsunade just like we did Yokumaru's mom!" Hinata quickly catches on. She smiles and turns to Mutsu. "You can come with us if you want to."

Mutsu shrugs.

Naruto squats next to the boy, as well. "Look, I know you don't know me and you don't even know your mom. I know it's a lot to take in. But y'know, you saved my butt back there so I owe ya a lot and wanna help. I know it might be a lot to take but… come with us. If you ever want to come back, just say and I'll do it. I owe you, after all, and we gotta repay our debts. Man to man. Shinobi to shinobi." He grins and raises a fist.

Mutsu looks up lightly and bumps it after a moment of hesitation. "Promise?"

"Promise. And I never go back on my word, 'cause that's my Ninja Way."

"Then let's prepare to depart." Hinata stands up. "Mr. Bairin, do you require anything else of us?"

The man waves his hands in front of him. "Oh no, you've… you've done more than enough. We'll take things from here, and await Lady Konan's return. But are you certain the Fifth Hokage would help?"

"Oh, we're not actually going to Granny Tsunade. I think someone else might be able to help more."

Hinata looks confused. "More than Lady Fifth?"

Naruto grins to her. "You'll see."

Once they collect all their belongings, Naruto and Hinata, Kotori, Yokumaru, and Mutsu all gather in one place, surrounding Konan's pod.

"Soooo now what?" Yokumaru looks around confused.

"Hehe, just watch." The performs a Summoning, and a giant toad appears in front of them. Orange with blue flame-like markings covering his entire body.

"Wooooah" Mutsu looks impressed. Kotori and Yokumaru do, too, even though they've seen him summon toads before. It's still cool to see.

"Alright, Gama, can ya take us to Mount Myoboku?"

The toad nods.

"Mount Myoboku? Not the Hidden Leaf?"

"Yeah. I think it might be better." He scratches his chin. "The Head and Ma can probably explain it better. Anyway, let's go!"

The toad opens his maw comically wide and swallows them whole. This part is also weird even if you've experienced it. Gama looks at Bairin, Fuyo, and Suiren and ribbits before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

* * *

Darkness. And then light. Just as quick as they were swallowed, they find themselves out in the open again.

Everyone except Naruto, and Konan for obvious reasons, gasps in surprise. The surrounding area is right out of a fairy tail, with landscapes and plants all shades of greens and blues. The plants' wide leaves tower over them and some wood-like structure protrude from the ground. On closer inspection, some toads can be seen inside from the carved in squares; apparently these are their homes.

Naruto immediately gathers Natural Energy and enters Sage Mode. Both he and the toad lift Konan's pod like it weighs nothing.

"Let's check in with Ma. She'll be able to help."

"Okay." They're all still bewildered and looking around, at all the toads going about their day.

"Hey, Naruto!"  
"Good to see ya again, kid!"

"Did ya get taller?"

They all greet Naruto as he passes through, and he returns all their greetings.

Mutsu feels and looks like he's about to faint. "The frogs can talk… There's talking frogs..."

"They're toads, actually."

They eventually reach one particular stalk-house-thing and Naruto knocks. A small toad opens the door- grey tuft of hair on his head, thick eyebrows, and a goatee.

Fukaraku raises a brow. "Naruto? What're you doin' here?"

"Hey, I was hoping you might be able to help with something. Do you… mind if we enter?"

The sage toad looks behind him at the group of people. Hinata bows as usual, while the kids give very confused waves.

"Well you sure brought in a crowd. I think this is the most visitors we've ever had." He laughs. "Come on in, kiddo."

They're taken inside and are greeted by a kind purple haired toad. They introduce themselves to the new folk as Fukasaku and Shima.

Naruto explains the situation.

"Hm." Shima has been listening while cooking. "You _are_ right in that regard. The increased energies here in Mount Myoboku will definitely speed up the healing process immensely just like how they healed your fatigue during training."

"So then you CAN help?"

"I can." She nods. "But that's no guarantee that I'll succeed. It all depends on this girl."

"Speaking of." Fukasaku scratches his chin "Wasn't she there when Jiraiya-boy…" He trails off.

"She's changed!" Naruto interrupts. "She's… not like that anymore, she's a good person. You don't have to believe me-"

Fukasaku raises his hand. "It's fine, Naruto. I know you wouldn't bring just any random person here. If you trust and care for her, then so will I."

"So will _we_ " Shima joins them at the table and places down bowls of food for everyone.

Naruto looks down and freezes in horror. The food. He forgot about the food!

The kids… don't look delighted. "That's gross."

Shima stares at them. "What was that about my cooking?" Somehow, despite being so small, she looks larger and more menacing than Hiru.

"I… said 'that's boss'. It's a thing we say in the capital when we like something." Nice save, Yokumaru.

"Well, then dig in! I made plenty."

Great.

* * *


	20. Hidden Rain Dispute IV

**HIDDEN RAIN DISPUTE IV**

"Alright, let's get to training!" Naruto begins warming up.

Kotori and Yokumaru jump in excitement. Mutsu is excited, too, just in a more reserved way. Since he's here with them to wait for his apparent mother to wake up, he may as well make use of his time.

"Alright, what are we gonna learn, Sensei?"

"Hmm… Good question. Maybe we can figure out some cool killed ninjutsu for you guys!"

"Woah!"

Mutsu raises a hand. "Um, can we even do that?"

Hinata walks behind them and pats them on the heads. "Maybe not just yet. You'd need a bit more chakra control for that." She joins Naruto by his side. "How about we actually start with the basics?"

"Aw, the basics are boring." Somehow Naruto is the one to complain.

Hinata gives him a peck on the cheek. "But necessary for any ninja."

"Soooo what _are_ the basics, anyway?"

"There's 4." She lists them off on her finger. "The Body Flicker, Transformation, Clone, and Substitution techniques. Every ninja must know those 4 at the minimum. And once you have those mastered, we'll begin practice with kunai and shuriken."

"Even though I can already use my feathers like kunai?"

"Fundamentally it's different. Controlling something with your chakra and throwing it with your hand, and you won't always have the time or opportunity to weave chakra. You must be prepared for every situation. That's what it means to be a shinobi."

"Yes, Mom." "Yes, Sensei."

Mutsu raises a hand. "Um, I already know all those."

Kotori hops sideways to look at Mutsu. "Wow, really? That's so cool!"

"Then you can train on your own jutsu and test Kotori and Yokumaru on theirs. And when Konan wakes up, she can really help you with your jutsu."

Mutsu nods.

Hinata looks at Kotori and Yokumaru. "If you were raised as ninja earlier, you'd already know them, too, so we're a bit behind."

Naruto intertwines his fingers behind his head. "Yeah, but they catch on quick. They'll have that stuff mastered in no time! And THEN we can move on to the cool jutsu."

Fukasaku hops on Naruto's shoulder. "Speaking of training, we never did finish yours."

"Whatcha mean? I kick major butt with Sage Mode!"

"Your Sage training was interrupted when the Hidden Leaf was attacked, remember? You managed to master Sage Mode in time, true, but there's much more to it than that. So since you're here we can get you started on the basics."

"So you're gonna become even stronger, Dad?"

"You betcha!" He gives a thumbs up. "But… what about Konan?"

"Ma and I will switch taking care of the girl and training you. Her healing won't be slowed down, don't worry."

"Alright."

With that, Naruto leaves a Shadow Clone behind to help the kids and goes to his own training.

For the next week, the kids train intensely until their chakra is run dry. They practice day in and day out, with the occasional breaks and making friends with the locals. Mutsu tries to get better at controlling his feathers, but the only pointers Naruto can give is describing what he's seen Konan do, which isn't a lot, thinking back on it.

The kids keep at it and have begun getting the hang of the Body Flicker, although they still have a ways to go. Training will take a lot longer than just this, but it's a start. They'll have more time once they finally reach the Hidden Stone Village, which they're already overdue because of the stop they made at the Hidden Rain, but Naruto isn't concerned about any of that right now. Konan getting healed takes priority.

Hinata isn't slacking off, either. In-between training the kids, she's also continuously perfecting her form, making herself faster and more accurate. The Tenseigan is particularly difficult to master and using it is exhausting, draining nearly all of her chakra in a matter of seconds.

Naruto is being taught the toad arts of Mount Myoboku. Skills that almost all of the residents can use one way or another. The main thing is refining his Frog Kata, but also learning to spew oil and even use his tongue as a weapon. That last one feels weird and icky but the Sages are adamant he learns it, so learn it he will.

By the end of the week, Shima calls Naruto to one of the stalk-houses, and Hinata comes with him. The elder toad takes out a casket.

"What's this?" He looks it over.

"Something I'd forgotten was here. It's been waiting for you for about 17 years."

"Waiting for him?" Hinata raises her brows questioningly.

"Well, just look it over." She goes to leave the room, leaving them to it, and pats Naruto on the leg as she passes.

Naruto opens the lid and the first thing he sees is a photo of his parents and Jiraya. Kushina is very clearly fairly far along in her pregnancy, Minato is holding her hand, and Jiraiya is towering behind them and pulling them both in a hug, the usual goofy grin on his face.

"This is…"

"A family photo." Naruto tears up as he rubs his thumb over his mom's belly. "And I'm in it."

Hinata places a hand over his and rubs his back with the other. Naruto sniffs and buries his head in her shoulder. She kisses him on the top of the head.

The two of them just sit in silence for a minute, looking at the photo.

Then Naruto continues looking through the box. Most of it random items, apparently just things Minato had stored here while training. Shuriken and kunai pouches which upon closer inspection have sealing formula on the inside. A three-pronged kunai that Naruto recognizes as one of the kunai his dad used for his teleportation. Taking it in his hand, something about the blade feels different from the ones he saw during the Fourth War, almost like… He pours chakra into the kunai and the blades become enveloped in chakra, increasing the weapon's size.

"That's like Asuma-sensei's?"

Naruto nods. "Yeah, it had the same feeling as his chakra blades. It's probably made from the same metal as those."

Hinata notices a tanto blade inside and takes it. "Hm? This one feels similar, as well." She allows her chakra to flow to the tanto. It's not as prominent as the kunai or Asuma's blade but it definitely has an effect. Slashing through the air, it leaves behind a chakra trail. "Did the Fourth use a blade like this?"

Naruto takes a closer look at it. "I… don't know? I never saw him use one in the War."

"It's a strong make, much stronger than a regular sword."

"Maybe Kotori or Yokumaru would wanna use it."

"Are you sure?" She looks up to him. "It's a memento from your father."

"I'm sure. I can use this." He lifts the kunai. "Be a shame if this one doesn't get used, y'know? Although maybe we can wait til they clear the basics first."

She leans on his shoulder. "Alright."

"Come on, let's go meet up with the kids." Naruto stands up with Hinata's help. He brushes his eyes. "Look at me, crying like this. I can't let them see an uncool side of me."

Hinata cups Naruto's face and stands on her toes. "You'll always be cool." And kisses him.

Naruto returns the kiss, and once they break off, he blushes and gives a goofy smile. He wraps his arm around her and they head out.

* * *

A week after staying in Mount Myoboku, Konan opens her eyes. She groans, feeling pain surge throughout her entire body.

"Don't move too much. You're still not fully healed."

Konan turns her head to the side, eyes meeting with a pale-eyed woman and purple haired toad. She then turns to look back at the ceiling.

"I see. This is the afterlife I've concocted for myself. Is it my regret over Jiraiya-sensei?"

She closes her eyes, accepting her fate.

"You're still alive, Konan."

Her eyes dart open at the familiar voice. She sees a smiling Naruto standing by the door, dressed in his shinobi clothes and Hidden Leaf flak jacket.

"Naruto? What are you… Where am I?"

He comes closer to her and sits down with her. "You're in Mount Myoboku. I brought you here for healing, you were in a rough spot."

She looks down at her wounds and bandaged body. "Did Madara-" Her eyes widen and she jolts up. "Madara! Naruto, Madara Uchiha is coming after you!"

He places a hand on her shoulder, leading her to lie back down. "I know. It's all over, Konan. Madara, Zetsu, the Akatsuki, it's over. We won."

"How… how long have I been out?"

"I don't know how long you've been unconscious, but it's been a year since Nagato died."

"A… a whole year? That long?" Konan stops to gather her thoughts. "Please, tell me what happened."

It takes a while, even longer than it usually would take as he keeps getting sidetracked, but Naruto catches Konan up on everything that happened with some prodding from Hinata to get to the point. The Five Kage Summit, the declaration of the Fourth Ninja War, his mastery over Kurama's chakra, Madara Uchiha's true identity, the ultimate purpose of the Rinnegan, the Shinobi Alliance. Everything, including the recent events in the Hidden Rain.

"I see. So Mutsu awoke the same ability as me." She grips onto the blanket she's covered with.

"Yeah, so cat was outta the bag so Bairin told him." Naruto looks at the door. "Did Nagato know he was a father?"

"I never told him, but maybe he found out. Madara, or rather Obito, probably knew, as well, but never had any reason to act on it."

"Why didn't you?"

"How could I? The life we were leading, the things we were doing… There was no way we could be his parents the way we were. I knew Bairin to be a decent man so I asked him to take Mutsu in. I thought it'd be better for him, grow up as a normal child."

"But now he knows and you're not like that anymore. You can be his mom."

She turns to face away from Naruto. "I can't. I abandoned my child, I have no right to be his mother now."

On the other side, Hinata dabs a cloth in some medicinal paste and spreads it on Konan's arm. "Of course you can, dear. It's never too late to be a parent, or even too early." She smiles at Naruto. "You did what was best for your boy, as any parents would. You've been a mother this entire time."

"And what right do I have to be part of his life after 8 years?"

"I dunno. Let's ask him." He turns to one of the windows. "You kids done eavesdropping?"

A series of eeps is heard from the outside. Konan looks… frightened at the realization that Mutsu was there all long, frightened at the prospect of meeting him after so long.

The door creaks open, and Mutsu is stood at the front with Kotori and Yokumaru behind.

"Sorry, Sensei."

Mutsu is looking down, holding his hands in front of him. He hesitates and tries to gather his courage. When he lifts his head to speak, he's met by a crying Konan. Seeing that, something within him gives in. He rushes to hug her and she squeezes him as tightly as she can.

A mother and son reunited.

* * *

Back in the Hidden Rain, Naruto, Hinata, Kotori, and Yokumaru are ready to leave. They've gathered their things and are at the bridge to exit the village. Konan is there to send them off, Bairin helping her stay on her feet. Mutsu is by her side, holding her hand, with Fuyo and Suiren behind them.

"Thank you for everything, Naruto."

"Of course! We're fellow students, after all. Have to look out for each other."

"Especially since we're the only ones left." She smiles and extends a hand for a handshake.

Instead, Naruto goes to hug her. Konan is stunned for a second at the gesture and returns the hug.

"We'll meet up again, alright?"

"Definitely."

Kotori and Yokumaru say their farewells to Mutsu, as well. The purple haired boy has more life in his expression now, but he's still on the reserved side.

"Next time we meet, we'll be awesome ninja, okay?" As usual, Kotori is as close as can be, excitedly hopping in place. Yokumaru is to the side, respecting his personal space a bit more.

"Yeah." Mutsu nods. "I'll train my jutsu every day and get way better at it. With mom." He and Konan smile at each other.

Konan turns back to Naruto and Hinata. "So where will you go now?"

"We're long overdue for a visit to the Hidden Stone. We have a mission to do, and matters to look into about the new threat."

"Right, that. I can't say to know much about it, but you can count on the Hidden Rain to help with this Alliance of yours."

"See ya soon, Konan."

And with that, they take their leave and go to continue their journey.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NAME MEANINGS
> 
> Mutsu (ムツ, Mutsu) = to add to before, Mutsu is specifically a Nagato-class battleship.


	21. Iron Will I

**IRON WILL I**

* * *

**Streets of Shuri town, Land of Earth:**

* * *

Kotori and Yokumaru look on at the sight in front of them with wide eyes and gaping mouths. The Land of Earth's Shuri town was lined with stalls as far as the eye can see. Dumplings, takoyaki, a huge assortment of sweets.

They go from store to store, looking at what's tastiest and unable to decide.

Naruto chuckles. "You don't have to just stare, you know?" He pushes away the banners to a dango stall. "Let's start eating."

The four of them take a seat and a bench. "Four plates, mister, and get ready to make a whole lot more!"

The man behind the stall gives a jolly laugh. "You got it!" After a short wait, he hands them their dango.

After a single bite, Kotori and Yokumaru are on cloud nine. It's really tasty. Yokumaru in particular gulfs down the dumplings like they're made of air. He eats too much and chokes lightly, pounding his chest.

Hinata giggles and cleans his mouth with a tissue, seeing as not all the paste went in his mouth. "Be careful, you'll get yourself sick."

Kotori takes a bite out of her dango. "It's like you've never seen sweets before."

Yokumaru looks down at his plate. "I mean, I really haven't. I stole a lotta things but it was for mom, and she can't eat sweets the way she is."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't think."

The boy shakes his head. "It's fine. You've eaten a lot, though, huh?"

She sheepishly rubs her head. "Oh, not really. Miss Shina couldn't afford a lot of luxuries, since the orphanage was kinda struggling."

Yokumaru puffs his cheeks and squeezes her nose between his index and middle fingers. "Then what're you getting on my case for?"

"Ow ow ow." She yelps in pain, but is then surrounded by a puff of smoke and is replaced by a piece of cloth.

"Huh? Substitution? Hey, no fair, come back here!" Yokumaru steps outside and looks left and right and then left again, trying to find her. She's gone. She's gotten that good that quick?

"Umm, help?"

Or not. Yokumaru looks to where the voice came from. Up on the stall. Kotori is clutching to a metal pipe that's holding the banners following a misjudged substitution, with one banner missing after being used for as the substitute.

Hinata giggles at their shenanigans.

Naruto shakes his head and takes the banner from the bench. "Sorry, mister, I'll put it back." He helps her down and gets to placing the banner back where it belongs. "You gotta be careful where you go, so you don't get stuck like that and don't bother other people, alright?"

"Sorry, dad."

Hinata walks behind him and holds his hand, pressing herself close to him. "You bothered quite a lot of people yourself, though."

He gets flustered. "That doesn't matter now. Old news!"

"Sensei, you were a troublemaker?"

"Did you get in trouble a lot, dad?"

"I said it doesn't matter!" He holds two pouches of coin and hands them to the kids. "Look, how about a game. You buy as many sweets as you want. First one to give up from the sugar has to do double training for a week."

The two kids look at each, grab the coin pouch and dart off.

"Is it a good idea to give them a sugar high?"

"You heard 'em, right? They've never had the chance to do this kinda thing. For one reason or another, they haven't had the chance to live a normal childhood, so I'll make sure they do from now on."

"You know," She stands on her toes to press her head against his. "Just when I think you can't get any kinder…" And kisses him. "I found a ramen stall further down."

He grins. "I love you."

She chuckles. "What, because I'm good at finding ramen stalls?"

"For a lotta things, although that's a pretty nice bonus."

The two of them walk hand-in-hand.

* * *

**Teshin household, Shuri town, Land of Earth:**

* * *

Ever since the crack of dawn, the Teshin household has been busy with people running left and right. It's a big day for them, after all, and they have to ensure it goes well.

It's the grand opening of the Shorin dojo, the teaching of the martial art once reserved only for their clan will now be available for anyone to learn that has the patience and resolve for it.

In the yard of the family that owns said dojo, one young boy is already hard at work training. He looks to be around 7 years old, dressed in simple robes, his black hair tied up in a traditional topknot- long hair tied in a knot and folded onto the head.

Oddly enough, his fingers are dark brown in colour. He's performing kata in front of a tree, knees slightly bent, hand outstretched. He delivers two punches, causing some bark to fly off. He doesn't flinch, even though the impact should've been enough to tear off his skin. His jutsu is protecting his hand, making it rock hard. He shifts his position, lowering himself. Another strike and a kick. He winces at the kick, apparently not having the same protection as his hands, but keeps going.

His movements are fast, precise, and well practiced.

He takes a stance and kicks the tree. "Tch. Too slow, too high." He takes the same stance again and repeats it until he's satisfied.

After more than two hour of this, a voice calls to him.

"Shoto!"

He turns to see a man and woman dressed in the same robes as him, the man having the same topknot hairstyle as him and the woman- tied in a long ponytail. Shoto looks to the side in annoyance. The man walks to the boy at a fast pace and grabs his hand, inspecting the darker brown fingers.

"I've told you to cut it out, Shoto."

"But, Father-"

"No 'buts'. You will respect your uncle's decision and that's final." The man lets go of Shoto's hand. "Our clan is no longer shinobi, so stop. Now come, we're to meet with Cousin Sokon and prepare for the day." He makes his way toward the house

The boy lowers his head and follows. "Yes, Father."

The woman tries to place her hands on his shoulder to pull him into a hug but he brushes her off and continues to walk. She frowns and walks behind him.

After several minutes of walking in silence, the man and boy looking annoyed and the woman looking worried, they make it inside the

They eventually reach the Shorin dojo not far from their home. It's a busy place, with multiple people scrubbing the place clean, some cleaning the walls, or retouching the place with paint, especially the signs on the walls and outside the building. Everyone is doing something to prepare for the big day.

The public opening of the Shorin school as a martial arts school, now to accept anyone who may wish to study a fighting style and hone their skills. A vast change from before when it was for family members only, when the clan's fighting style was for actual combat.

Inside, they're met by an older man who approaches with a smile.

"Itosuke, Asami. Shoto. I'm glad you came, there's much work to be done before the grand opening."

"Of course, cousin." Itosuke bows his head "Shoto, you go help with the painting."

Shoto curls his hand into a fist. "No."

The man turns around, glaring. "What did you say?"

"I said no!" The boy shouts loud enough to grab everyone's attention. "I don't want the Teshin clan to become a circus, I won't be part of it!"

A slap resounds throughout the dojo. Shoto lands on his butt, his cheek stinging.

Itosuke is furious. "You disrespect Sokon's wishes, and now you embarrass me in front of everyone?"

Asami kneels down. "Shoto!" She turns to her husband. "Itosuke, that was too far."

Shoto rubs his cheek and stands up.

"If you intend on continuing this behaviour, then leave. I won't have you ruin an important day because of your foolish obsession with the past."

He pushes himself up and runs out.

Asami calls out to him but he keeps on running. She looks like she wants to go after him, but the elder Teshin stops her.

"I believe he needs to gather himself. I'm sorry. This divide came about from my decision on the clan's future."

"You've nothing to apologize for, cousin. You're the head of the Teshin clan, your word is law." Itosuke places his hand inside his robe, letting it rest. "It's my fault for not disciplining him properly that he rebels at such a young age."

Sokon looks at his younger cousin with a pointed look. The lad still doesn't get it. He sighs and leads them to help with preparations.

* * *

**Streets of Shuri town, Land of Earth**

* * *

Naruto and Hinata make their way out of the ramen stall, having eaten their fill.

"Think the kids are done by now?" Naruto pats his belly.

"Doubtful, but we can still check in on them."

They make their way back to the main street and surprisingly almost immediately find the kids. Thought it'd be harder. They're leaving one store in particular, waving back to someone inside and carrying a large bag filled with wrapped sweets, and seem to be chatting away.

"What's this, decided to stock up on food?"

The kids turn to where the voice came from, to see Naruto and Hinata approaching.

Kotori shakes her head. "Uncle Kakashi treated us with a whole buncha things!"

Hinata smiles and pats them both on the head, leading them to walk along together with them. "Did you remember to thank him properly?"

"Of course!"

After a second, it clicks. Naruto and Hinata look at each other. "Wait, 'Uncle Kakashi'?" They go back to the stall the kids just left and poke their heads inside, and sure enough, Kakashi's spiky white hair is there to greet them.

He waves to them. "Hello."

"Kakashi-sensei?"

A woman sitting next to them twists her head around, also a familiar face. Long brown trenchcoat, violet hair tied in a spiky ponytail.

Anko just finishes her sweets. "Hey, ya brats. Fancy seeing you here."

"Anko-sensei?"  
"Creepy snake lady?"

A skewer is embedded in Naruto's forehead protector.

"Who you calling creepy?"

And to her side is another woman, dressed in the usual Hidden Stone Uniform, of brown flak jacket and one-sleeved clothing underneath. She spins around, her short black hair, swaying slightly as she does.

"You're… Kurotsuchi?" Naruto takes out the skewer from his protector.

"Naruto. Didn't think I'd be bumping into you in these parts. What brings you here?"

"We were on our way to the Hidden Stone for our big mission but we stopped 'cause it looked like something big's going on."

"Oh?" Kakashi perks up. "I would've thought you're here for the Teshin clan's dojo opening. Thought it might be right up your alley."

"The… who now?"

Hinata gets a look of recognition, the name ringing a bell. But it couldn't possibly be the same clan, could it?

"The Teshin clan." Kurotsuchi explains. "They used to be a shinobi clan in the Hidden Stone but they lost their status around the Second Great Ninja War."

"Then…" Hinata takes a step forward. "It's that same Teshin clan?"

"Yeah. I suppose you'd know about them."

Naruto looks between the two. "You know them, Hinata?"

"Only from old records I've read. They were a powerful shinobi clan, specializing in ninjutsu and taijutsu that allowed them to clash with the Hyuga clan on equal footing."

"Wow, they were that good?"

Kurotsuchi forms hand signs and her arm becomes darkened brown like earth. "They were said to be so proficient in Earth Style that it was stronger than any other, strong enough to even block the Hyuga's Gentle Fist from blocking their pressure points. They were one of the few who could stand up against them." Her arm returns to normal and she resumes eating her snacks. "But they lost their touch; lost every battle against the Hyuga clan. So they fell from grace and exiled themselves from the village."

"Wow, that sounds cool." Yokumaru exclaims.

"And… now they're opening a dojo, even though they were that amazing?"

Anko orders a new plate of sweets. "Apparently they're going to teach their clan's personal fighting style to the public, become a dojo instead of a shinobi clan."

"That feels like a bit of a waste. Just because they lost against the Hyuga clan doesn't make them any weaker! That's stupid."

"Well, you can tell them that yourself."

"Preferably don't." Kakashi adds. "Whatever your opinion on it is, it's their decision to make and theirs alone. So please be respectful of it."

"Yeah, I know, don't worry."

Kurotsuchi stands up and stretches. "I'm actually headed there now. I'm here as Grandfather's representative, and I guess as an apology for letting the Teshin clan go all those years. You guys wanna come?"

Yokumaru and Kotori look excited at the prospect. "Can we go? Please?"

Hinata and Naruto share a look. "If we're allowed to, of course."

Naruto looks to the kids. "This might be good training for you guys, actually. See someone else fighting besides me and Hinata."

On their way out in the street to head for the dojo, Hinata turns to Kakash and Anko. "Are you here because of the Teshin clan, as well, like Kurotsuchi?"

Kakashi waves dismissively. "No, we were on a joint mission with some Hidden Stone shinobi and stopped here on our way back home when we saw something was happening. And happened to run into Kurotsuchi."

Anko smirks. "I managed to get him to take me on a date."

"Not a date, Anko."

"Uh-huh, sure." She leans back to literally talk to Hinata behind his back. She stage-whispers. "Totally a date."

Kakashi sighs, and Anko bumps him with her butt, laughing.

-x-

As they walk through the streets, some distance away from them is a young boy in a topknot, brows furrowed as he looks at the group of Leaf ninja.

"Is that… a Hyuga?"

Shoto had bought some sweets to get his mind off everything that happened with his father. He hadn't intended to return at all today, and wait for the so-called dojo to close. But it might be worth going, after all.

* * *

**Shorin-ryu dojo, Shuri town, Land of Earth:**

* * *

A crowd had already gathered by the time Naruto and his group reached the dojo. It seems the Teshin name still carried some weight, despite the long time they'd spent closed off from others, or perhaps some are simply interested in picking up a new skill.

The very first day is apparently reserved for exhibition matches. Practitioners from the Teshin clans will put on some practice fights to show what the style is all about, and if other martial artists are present, they can issue a challenge.

Everyone is currently sitting around the arena, observing the mock fights, many showing interest.

Hinata especially takes an interest in seeing their techniques. She can already imagine how a potential battle against the Teshin clan would go, and they definitely are capable to countering the Gentle Fist, although it's been a while since the style was actually used in a proper battle so it's not exact.

Kotori looks around at all the people gathered, impressed at how many are here. She spots one boy in particular staying back from everyone else. He's leaned against the door, dressed in the same robes as the people from the Teshin clan. Curious as ever, she stands up from her seat and goes to him. Yokumaru sighs and joins her, if not to make sure she doesn't get herself in trouble. The adults do see them leave, but see they're not going far and even if they did, they're plenty capable of tracking them down.

Kotori approaches Shoto. "Hey there. Are you from the Teshin clan?"

"Uh, yeah? How'd you know?" Shoto visibly wasn't expecting to be approached.

"The clothes are the same." Yokumaru motions at the boy's attire.

"Oh. Right."

"I'm Kotori Uzumaki, nice to meet you!" She's as bubbly as ever.

"Yokumaru Kigatsu." He introduces himself in a not as energetic way.

"Shoto Teshin." He straightens his pose, and holds his hands close to his chest. His fist hits his palm, which wraps over his closed hand, and bows.

"I saw the others do that, too, is it a greeting?"

The boy stands up. "Yeah. We do it as a greeting, and as a beginning and end every spar. It's tradition."

"That's cool! Dad shows us a different ritual they do in the Hidden Leaf. Guess it's different for everyone, huh?"

"I guess. We have our way because we're not really ninja." He puts on a strained smile.

"But you used to be, right?" Yokumaru props himself against the doorframe. "They said your clan was strong."

Shoto balls up his fist. "So you know? Yeah, we used to be, but they gave up a long time ago. Now we're just here to put on shows, I guess."

Kotori tilts her head. "You don't like it?"

"Of course not! I wanna be a ninja, but like this, the Teshin clan will never be ninja again."

"Aw, but can't you just be on your own or something? Become a ninja without your family?"

He shakes his head. "Father won't let me. I have to stay with the clan's decision; it's tradition." Suddenly, he looks up with a furrowed brow to Kotori. "Why're you even asking, and why am I telling you?"

"Because! Now we can be friends!" She grins.

Shoto, confused, looks at Yokumaru.

Yokumaru shrugs. "Don't question it. I don't."

A commotion inside grabs their attention. They turn around to see… Naruto in the arena. Opposite of him is a young man, black hair tied in a topknot. Between them, acting as a mediator is the head of the Teshin clan, greying hair also tied in a topknot. Actually, every Teshin has a topknot.

Sokon looks between the two of them. "Introduce yourselves."

The man in front of Naruto gives the traditional bow. "Nabe Teshin. Empty Hand style of the Teshin clan's Shorin-ryu."

"Naruto Uzumaki. Mount Myoboku's Frog Kata."

Murmurs can be heard all around, at the mention of his name. It seems Naruto is known even around these parts

Sokon scratches his chin. "I see. So you that Naruto Uzumaki... " Sokon takes a step back, to give them space. "Begin"

Nabe Teshin gives the traditional bow, and the two of them take their stances.

Shoto looks between the blonde man standing in front of his second cousin and Kotori. "Wait, Naruto Uzumaki? The hero from the war? And you said you're… Uzumaki?"

"Yep!" Kotori beams. "He's my adoptive dad."

Shoto then looks to Yokumaru.

"He's just my sensei."

The spar begins. Nabe practices a style all too familiar for Shoto. He begins with his knees slightly bent, hands outstretched with one shoulder in front of the other. Naruto has his palms open, one high and one low.

Nabe makes the first move, delivers a series of punches that are pushed aside by Naruto, who takes an opening to try and get the upper hand. He parries what punches are thrown his way and utilizes thrusts to both deliver powerful blows and push Nabe back to throw him off his balance.

Frog Kata specializes in keeping opponents at bay, and finding an opening for a decisive strike.

Nabe manages to keep his footing and return the attack. Naruto tries to parry and thrust, but the Teshin ducks and delivers a kick, which Naruto jumps over with a toad-like hop. Nabe gets back to his feet and punches up to Naruto's chest, but he parries that, too and tries to push him back as he falls back to his feet.

The two have everyone's undivided attention.

They continue like this for a while longer, not one of them gaining the upper hand but they both feel the other is not going at full force. When one speeds up, the other matches it; when one slows it back down, the other matches it. They're keeping this to a spar, as it should be.

Naruto can't help but enjoy himself. " _He's really good. If this was a real fight, he might get the upper hand in taijutsu. A shame they're not shinobi anymore."_

Nabe keeps his distance. " _So this is the war hero, the saviour of the world. Times like this, I agree with Shoto. It's a shame we're no longer shinobi so we can clash in actual battle."_

The spar is stopped by Sokon, enough having been demonstrated. "Thank you both for your display." He bows to them both, and they bow to each other.

With that, Naruto returns to his seat next to Hinata.

Kakashi leans forward slightly. "Did you get that out of your system."

"Yep! He's really good." He turns to Hinata. "You sure you don't wanna have a go at it?"

"I'm sure, I don't believe this is my thing."

Naruto looks around. "No one?" Everyone shakes their heads. "You guys are no fun, ya know that?"

The day continues like this for a couple more hours, until no one is left to test themselves against the Teshin clan. Eventually, the exhibition comes to an end and people leave. Naruto and his group are among the last to leave, taking time to talk about what they saw, and also to wait for Kurotsuchi to finish talking with the head, Sokon Teshin.

Shoto looks nervous about something. He looks like he wants to say or do something, but is questioning it. Just as Kotori is about to ask what's wrong, he goes to the arena. He takes the traditional bow. Facing Hinata Hyuga.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NAME MEANINGS
> 
> Teshin clan (鉄心一族, Teshin Ichizoku) = 'iron will'
> 
> Shoto Teshin (鉄心 ショト, Teshin Shoto) = 'pine waves'. Named after Gichin Funakoshi, whose pen name was Shoto, cited as the father of modern karate for spreading it throughout all of Japan.
> 
> Itosuke Teshin (鉄心 イトスケ, Teshin Itosuke) = named after Anko Itosu, Gichin Funakoshi's karate teacher.
> 
> Asami Teshin (鉄心 アサミ, Teshin Asami) = named after Anko Asato, Gichin Funakoshi's karate teacher.
> 
> Sokon Teshin (鉄心 テシン, Teshin Sokon) = named after Sokon Matsumura, the two Ankos' karate teacher.
> 
> Nabe Teshin (鉄心 ナベ, Teshin Nabe) = named after Nabe Matsumura, karate master and son of Sokon.


	22. Iron Will II

**IRON WILL II**

Shoto goes to the arena and takes the traditional bow. Facing Hinata Hyuga.

Itosuke's eyes bulge at the sight. "Shoto, what do you think you're doing." Before he can walk int the arena, Sokon stops him. "Cousin?"

"A challenge has been issued. Do not interfere."

Hinata looks confused, between her group and the Teshin clan leader, unsure what exactly to do in this situation. Kotori and Yokumaru join her.

"Mom, are you going to accept?"

Hinata looks down. "Kotori, do you know something?"

Kotori looks to Shoto. "Maybe. I dunno."

She looks back to the boy challenging her. Even though his head is lowered, she can see him rightly gripping his hand, she can see the reaction of some of the members of the Teshin clan. She can tell whatever this is, it's not just a simple challenge.

She sighs and enters the ring.

The boy remains in his bowed position. "Shoto Teshin, Empty Hand of the Teshin clan's Shorin-ryu."

"Hinata Hyuga, Gentle Fist of the Hidden Leaf Village's Hyuga clan."

They take their respective clans' stances. Shoto is the first to charge, with a much greater ferocity than any of the previous matches. Whatever is going through his mind, he's serious about this. Hinata, being a much experienced combatant, easily keeps him away.

Shoto doesn't let up, delivering practiced punches, some kicks mixed in between, aiming as high as he can, which overall isn't very high with him being only 7 years old.

Hinata gets a few strikes in, naturally holding back so as to not hurt him. The boy is knocked down, ending the match.

Sokon declares the match as over.

However, Shoto immediately stands back up and bows again, declaring another challenge.

Hinata looks between him and Sokon, but accepts the challenge. Shoto comes at her with similar intensity, punching and kicking as much as he can. Probably more than he should. He's clearly overdoing it and tiring himself out.

Even though it's not difficult for Hinata to stop his attacks, they still sting. He's trained hard and diligently, but it's still not enough to come close to beating Hinata.

He's pushed down several times but each and every time, he stands up and declares a new challenge. Some are visibly annoyed, especially his father, Itosuke.

Shoto rushes in and delivers a series of kicks, using this time to weave a hand sign. His fingers and knuckles turn dark brown.

" **Earth Style: Earth Spear"**

He drives two punches forward and they sting even more. Hinata notices this the first time anyone has actually used ninjutsu. This is it. This is the Earth Style that made the Teshin clan famous, although he's still young and can only cover a small part of his hand.

"Cousin, you must stop this now. He's clearly doing it in rebellion."

Sokon's gaze remains focused on the match. "The challenge has been accepted."

The sparring continues for a long time. Or rather, the challenge is issued over and over.

The young boy has a look of desperation in his eyes, but also determination. He's calm and angry, focused and distracted, all at the same time. That look. Hinata has seen that look before, plenty of times. She's seen it in herself when she was trying to prove her worth to her father, she's seen it in Naruto when he worked to gain people's approval, she's even seen it in Lee when he became a shinobi using only taijutsu. This is the look of someone who wants to prove something and will do anything and everything in their power to prove it.

Several times, his Earth Spear deactivates and he performs the jutsu again, using up a lot of chakra.

Kotori and Yokumaru are in awe at the display. They've been training quite a lot, but Shoto is clearly leagues above them when it comes to taijutsu. They'll have to train five times as hard if this is the level they'd need to be at.

Eventually, after several spars, Shoto's legs begin giving out. He's knocked on the ground again, and tries to get back to his feet, to issue another challenge, to prove that he can be a shinobi, that that's his path in life. But he's no longer able. He remains on all fours on the ground, breathing heavily as would be expected.

Hinata's breathing is hastened, as well, but she knows proper breathing techniques and is able to regulate herself.

Itosuke power walks to his son, but before he can say anything, his wife Asami stands in front of him. "You will not, husband."

"Even you, Asami? Shoto disgraced us and Shorin-ryu in front of guests from the Hidden Leaf."

Hinata approaches, a look of concern for the boy. "Is that what you saw just now? Disgrace? Because I saw a warrior, someone putting every bit of their being to accomplish something they believe in. I saw someone willing and ready to work for their dream. I saw someone who does not give up- a shinobi."

"You do not know our son, nor what his dreams are."

"I didn't. But I found out everything I needed to know, through his fists and his eyes. Shinobi don't need anything else to understand each other."

The Leaf shinobi hear the conversation, being within earshot. Kakashi and Anko are impressed by the young Hyuga. She's absolutely nothing like what she used to be. She's completely different even from how she was a year ago.

"He is not a shinobi, _we_ are not shinobi, a member of the Hyuga clan should know that better than anyone else."

Asami talks back to her husband, which surprises even him. "If we're not shinobi it's because of our own weakness. If our predecessors had fought even half as hard as Shoto did, we'd still be."

Sokon sighs. "Itosuke. The Teshin clan was renowned throughout the Land of Earth. Our Earth Style was so refined and strong that it could prevent the Hyuga clan from piercing our chakra network, and we gained fame and glory for being able to counter one of the most powerful clans."

"Of course, I know all of this."

"You clearly do not or I wouldn't feel the need to explain it once more." Itosuke remains quiet at his elder's words. "We grew complacent. Cocky and arrogant, to the point where we believed that we were just naturally gifted and didn't need to put any more effort. But where we stopped trying, the Hyuga continued to grow. Our Earth Style grew weaker and we were disgraced, and banished from the Hidden Stone Village. We closed ourselves off and decided we don't need anyone else and would isolate ourselves from the world. Until recently."

"Because we need to replenish our strength, and recruit more people into the Teshin clan."

Sokon sighs. "Even still, you don't…"

Kurotsuchi takes a place next to the Teshin leader. "It's like the new Shinobi Alliance. We've opened our doors to each other and are working together. Not to bolster our own power, but to bolster relationships. It's the same with you, isn't it?" She turns to Sokon, who nods.

"Precisely. I did this because I wished more people to experience the gifts we have to offer. And that's what they are. Gifts. And the same way we'll come to accept others among our ranks, I'd wish others to feel accepted in other ranks. Just as people come because they're interested in our lifestyle, if someone else is interested in another lifestyle- they should be free to pursue it." Sokon kneels down to his cousin's child. "What do you wish for, Shoto?"

Shoto looks to him, sweat pouring down his brow. "I… I want to be a shinobi. I want to surpass the strength of my ancestors."

"And how do you intend to do that?"

Shoto looks to the ground for a moment. He curls his hand into fists, grippIng some dirt. He then looks up to Hinata, who's unsure where this is going. Shoto kneels properly, places his palms on the ground and lowers his forehead to touch the ground, in a kowtow.

"Please accept me as your apprentice."

"My… apprentice?"

Naruto walks next to her. "Well then. Didn't think that would happen today."

Hinata kneels down and ushers him to lift his head. "You could become a shinobi through other ways, you could join the Academy in the Hidden Stone. We're Hidden Leaf and that might… complicate things."

"No. It has to be you."

Naruto scratches his head. "I mean, it's not really up to us, is it?"

Sokon stands up and straightens himself. "I cannot decide for his parents whether to let him go, and I cannot decide you will accept him, but as clan head, I will not hold anyone here against their wishes. You've my blessing to become a shinobi, Shoto." He turns to Itosuke. "And I know you see it, too, Itosuke. You're a good man at heart. I should know, I helped raise you."

"And yet the Leaf still have no reason to accept such a ridiculous request." Itosuke looks to his son who's still kowtowing.

Asami turns to Hinata and Naruto. "It's as my husband said. You've no reason to accept, but for months Shoto hasn't been himself. He does have dreams and he does have things he wants to accomplish, but we haven't given him the opportunity to do so. Today I saw him display more passion than ever." He bows her head. "Please, if you would consider, we would accommodate you in any way possible."

Naruto and Hinata share a look, being put in a tough spot, but they both saw the boy and how hard he fought. They're both aware this request is not hollow and not a rash decision. And they both want the same thing.

"If you would allow us," Hinata turns to Shoto's parents. "we would take Shoto on as an apprentice."

Shoto finally looks up, a wide smile on his face.

"But… why?" Itosuke is confused that they would do this.

"Because both of us know what it's like. Or…" Naruto places a hand on Kotori and Yokumaru's heads. "I guess I should say the four of us know what it's like. And we don't want anyone to feel trapped like we've been."

Asami turns to her husband. "You can't take this away from our son, Ito."

Itosuke grumbles. "You know it's not fair to call me that. Fine, but answer me this. What happens when you go back to the Hidden Leaf? Shoto is a citizen of the Land of Earth."

Kurotsuchi speaks up. "I can handle that part. Just like how some shinobi are travelling to the different lands to help, we're also in the process of establishing permanent residency in other lands for those who want it. Shoto can be one of those people, native to the Land of Earth but permitted to live in the Land of Fire. A dual citizenship, I guess you could call it."

Sokon turns to his cousin. "You could join him, you know. Establish another dojo in the Hidden Leaf, should the Hokage allow it. Be close to your son and spread the Shorin-ryu even further than we could by staying here in Shuri town."

"I can handle that, too, although there's a lot of things to handle now." Kurotsuchi looks at Sokon from the corner of her eye. "You're not going to throw more things my way, are you?"

Sokon chuckles. "No, I believe that's enough."

Hinata offers Shoto a helping hand. "Then, I guess it's settled. Welcome to the team."

The boy smiles and takes the hand, getting back up to his feet.

Kotori is as ecstatic as ever.

* * *

Before everyone scatters to where they're from, Naruto pulls Kakashi aside.

"Could I... talk to you for a second, Kakashi-sensei?"

The Jounin turns to his student. "Of course, what do you need?"

"It's not really about needing something, I just... found something. Or really the Head and Ma found, in Mount Myoboku." He reaches into his backpack and takes out the items he'd found that belonged to his father. They're not in the casket as it's much too large to be carried around, but they're still neatly packed. "These belonged to my dad."

Kakashi remains silent as he looks over, but he can't help but smile which only shows in his eyes closing as he does. "I see. I'm glad you found them."

They take a seat on a grassy area and look over everything. "Sealing pouches, huh? I'd expect nothing less of Minato-sensei."

"Sealing pouches? Is that what they are? I haven't really had the time to try them out or figure out what they do."

"It's basically a way to store items, like what Tenten does. Let me show you." Kakashi takes out a shuriken of his own, places it inside and performs a seal. With that, it disappears in a puff of smoke. Then Kakashi just forms a one-handed seal and reaches inside, the shuriken appearing. "Sensei made something similar for us, too, but ours were lost or torn through various skirmishes."

"So that's why you know how they work."

Kakashi nods. "And, you can do this." He throws the shuriken into a tree and then forms the seal again. The shuriken disappears and he takes it out of the pouch. "They return to the seal at your command. It's a very useful tool, although apparently the sealing formulae is not an easy one."

"I guess he probably wanted to replace the ones you lost, but never got the chance."

"Maybe. But they're in good hands now." Kakashi smiles.

"You don't want them, Sensei?"

"I'm good, Naruto, thank you. I think you might make better use of them, anyway, being a teacher now. And a father."

Naruto rubs his head embarrassed. "Ah, yeah. Still kinda feels weird, y'know?"

"I know. But you'll grow into and become a splendid role model for them, as you have so many." He places a hand on his student's shoulder. "There IS something you can take solace in. No matter what they do, no matter how reckless they become, know that they'll never be as much of a handful as you were." Kakashi manages to deliver that deadpan but he cracks.

The two begin openly laughing.

Naruto wipes away a tear. "You know, that actually does make me feel better."

Kakashi looks over other items. Everything in here is pretty practical, the only sentimental item being the photo of Minato, a pregnant Kushina, and Jiraiya. Kakashi finally notices the tanto.

"Wait, this is..." He takes it out and channels his chakra into it. He swings it around, witnessing it leave a very familiar white streak behind it. "My father's White Light Chakra Sabre?"

"Wait, _your_ father's?"

"Yeah, this was a specially crafted item just for him. It's what got him the nickname White Fang. I inherited it, but it broke..." Kakashi feels the need to pause and gather his thoughts. He swallows. "It broke the day I thought Obito died."

"But then what's it doing here?"

"It's not, this is a different one." He holds it up to inspect it. "Did he commission a new blade?"

"Then, consider it a late present from my dad." Naruto grins.

Kakashi places it back in the pile. "Thanks, but I'll have to refuse this one, too."

"What? How come?" Naruto protests. "It's yours, isn't it? He clearly made it for you."

"Maybe, but I've had a lot of time to think about things and mull them over. I'm not the person I was back then, hell, I'm not even the same person I was a year ago. I don't need it. I'd much rather see it in capable hands, be passed down to the next generation. You can use it, or maybe one of your students can. I'm curious how they'll develop."

"Thanks, Sensei."

"No. Thank _you_ , Naruto. For everything."

Kakashi extends a hand. Naruto takes it and shakes his hand, but also pulls him into a hug. Kakashi is taken aback at first, but pats the blonde on the back.

* * *

**The following day:**

* * *

Naruto and Hinata and their, now three, students are at the gates of Shuri town, ready to depart. Asami is kneeling down next to Shoto, fussing over his baggage.

"I have everything, Mother. I'll be fine." She tries to get away. Not that he doesn't love his mom, he's just embarrassed at being fussed over like this.

"And should he need anything, we'll take care of it." Hinata reassures her.

"I know. I just never expected this to happen so soon." She brushes his cheeks and kisses his forehead. He grumbles.

Kotori has a silly grin watching the two.

Itosuke is standing over her, arms crossed. "Don't be a burden to your teachers. If this dream means so much to you, then be the best at it."

"Yes, Father." His dad was never the most sentimental, but he had his own way of showing it.

Hinata can't help but be reminded of how her own father is.

"You guys not leaving?" Naruto looks at Kakashi, Anko, and Kurotsuchi.

Kurotsuchi waves her hand dismissively. "I still have a lot of things to take care of for the Hidden Stone, but we'll definitely meet up again soon."

Kakashi has his hands in his pockets. "And we're not really in a rush, we don't really have to return soon. Besides, I've grown curious."

Anko hands each of the kids a bag of select treats. "Now be sure to savour these, alright? Or just eat them all in one big gulp, either is fine."

"Thanks, creepy snake lady!" Kotori says that with too much excitement.

Anko glares at Naruto.

"I didn't even do anything!" He argues.

The five of them say their goodbyes and leave Shuri town, to make their way to the Hidden Stone Village.

-x-

The ones watching them departs also head back to where they need to be. Kakashi and Anko walk through the streets. The silver haired Jounin has a certain twinkle in his eye that doesn't go unnoticed.

Anko leans forward, staring at Kakashi. "You're happy."

"My student has grown into quite the dependable young man. Why wouldn't I be happy?"

"It's an odd look. I'd gotten used you being all lone wolfy and broody. Can't say I dislike it, though." She smirks.

"Yeah, well, the War gave me a lot to think about. I was able to get closure on a lot of things. And I've had the chance to see my pupil become a dependable adult in such a quick time. Makes me realize there's a lot to life I've missed out on. I kept using the excuse that I was lost on the pathway of life, but maybe it's time I actually did that."

"So you're done regretting the past, and moving on like the rest of us have long ago?"

He shakes his head. "I'm not sure if I'd put it that way but sure." He extends his elbow to Anko.

She furrows her brow at the display. "What're you doing?"

"Asking you on a date."

She grins widely. "Well, well, whaddya know." She interlocks her arm with his. "And you're in luck, dogboy, I totally dig it doggystyle."

"I feel like that's more 3rd date information, but sure."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR NOTES
> 
> KakaAnko is honestly one of my favourite ships.


	23. Hidden Stone Secrets I

**HIDDEN STONE SECRETS I**

Onoki hands Akatsuchi a scroll to be stored away. "Hrmm…" The Tsuchikage looks up to Naruto and Hinata and their 3 apprentices. "A Teshin, huh? I'd hoped if the Teshin clan decided to produce shinobi once more it'd be for the Hidden Stone, but…"

Hinata eyes the Tsuchikage. "But wasn't it the Hidden Stone who exiled them, years ago?"

"It was… a mutual disagreement. When they began parading around and acting superior to the other clans, Lord Mu had a… conversation with them that did not go well, as I can remember. Both Lord Mu and the clan leader at the time had strong beliefs and values. But. When they started continuously losing fights against the Hyuga, they began lowering their head more until their pride could no longer take it, and they stopped being shinobi by their own volition."

"That's… really sad, y'know? Even though they were that strong, they gave it up. Couldn't you just invite 'em back or something?"

"It _is_ sad, but that's how it is. It was their choice to remain isolated, just as it was their choice to become a dojo." The old man looks to Shoto. "And you're sure you want to be an apprentice to a Hyuga, your clan's old rivals?"

"Hey, Gramps, you trying to change his mind?" Naruto crosses his arms, a playful frown on his face. He knows the Tsuchikage wouldn't actually do anything malicious.

Okoni chuckles. "I had to try."

Shoto looks between Onoki and Hinata. "There's no one else who could be my teacher."

The elder leans back in his chair. "A shame, indeed, but if that is your decision, I won't fight you on it."

"And this won't cause any issues, seeing as he's from the Land of Earth?" Hinata places a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I've already received Kurotsuchi's opinion on the matter." He wags a scroll that was arrived via carrier hawk not long ago. "And I agree with her. This little exchange that you're a part of is the first step in the Shinobi Alliance, but it's just that- the first step. We've thought long and hard how to facilitate the changing times and I see this as a good start."

"So, he's good to become a citizen of the Land of Fire?"

"Hm, well, just because I agree to it doesn't mean it's going to happen right away. It's going to take some bureaucracy, but it should be done by the time you leave for the next Village." He gives an affirmative nod.

Naruto grins to Shoto. "Ya hear that? You're basically all set to be a shinobi!"

The boy tries his best to hold his excitement. He bows to the Tsuchikage. "Thank you greatly."

Everyone smiles at Shoto's dream being on its way to become true.

Hinata turns to Onoki. "Speaking of our mission here, what is it about the Uzumaki clan that you were able to discover."

Naruto grabs his head in shock. "Oh man! I completely forgot about that!"

Onoki raises a brow. "You ought to remember these things, it's _your_ clan, after all."

"Look, a lot happened in the meantime, okay?" The blonde grumbles. "It's been a while."

"Hrm, right." Onoki begins rummaging through some papers and scrolls, looking for something. "I knew I put it somewhere here." He throws scrolls behind his back that Akatsuchi swiftly catches and orders them. The man is plump but he's still a shinobi of the highest order.

"Um, Lord Tsuchikage?" The man tries to grab his leader's attention.

"Not now."

"But-"

"Be quiet, I'm looking."

They all patiently watch Onoki go through everything on his desk and once he's done, Akatsuchi grabs a scroll from the shelf nearby and hands it to him. "Here it is."

"Huh? What?" Onoki turns around and angrily snatches it from his hand. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I tried."

Onoki grumbles and hands Naruto the scrolls. "There's a place not far from here, an ancient temple or something or other that's been around as long as anyone can remember. We believe it to be connected to the Uzumaki clan, although any attempt to figure out its purpose has failed. We can't even enter the blasted place, it's sealed away and not one of us has managed to crack it."

"Then how can you be certain it IS connected to the Uzumaki clan if you've not been able to enter it?"

"Simply put, we can't." Onoki shrugs. "The writings and seals placed inside bear a resemblance to what we know of them, but it is old. Very old. Much older than the villages. The only reason we had to worry about what it's for is when the Hidden Leaf sent a small force of shinobi to it. And some of them managed to enter"

"Then we have a lead, right?" Naruto gets excited. "Who entered?"

"Hm, I think I can remember Tobirama Senju and… Sasuke Sarutobi being there?" Onoki wracks his brain. "There was someone else, too, the people they managed to get inside but I can't put my finger on it. Probably some nobodies."

"Old age gettin' to ya, Gramps?"

"I'd like to see you when you live as long as I have. Although you're a blasted Uzumaki, you'll probably look and feel years younger." He grumbles again. "Either way, the Leaf sought it out although the reasons remain a mystery to us. I asked your Slug Princess to look into it, but there's apparently no records of such a thing ever happening. So, you go there and look into it."

"Sooo we got nothing? We don't even know what it is, or how to get inside! What good is any of this?"

Meanwhile, Akatsuchi goes around the desk and hands out rock cakes and drinks to the kids, sitting on a sofa to the side. This is taking a while.

"Perhaps the Tsuchikage is correct, Naruto. If we go there, we could see what's present and then investigate further what its purpose is. I believe it's worth giving it a chance."

"I guess you're right. And we still gotta visit the ruins of the Hidden Whirlpool, see what's over there, too. Maybe what we find here will help us there." He scratches his chin.

"My sentiments exactly." She nods in agreement.

"But isn't it kinda weird the Hidden Leaf went there but didn't leave info why?" Naruto furrows his brow.

"Hrm, Tobirama Senju was a meticulous man, right to his core. If he'd found something out, he'd have left behind instructions to it. The fact that he apparently didn't makes me think this is something overly sensitive that even he dared not meddle with it. And he's the man who created the Edo Tensei, so that's saying a lot." Onoki can't help but grimly chuckle.

Kotori perks up. "So we're going on a trip?"

Hinata gives a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry, Kotori, I'm not certain how safe it is to bring you along with us."

Shoto jumps to his feet. "But we're here to learn, aren't we? And we can't learn from you unless we're with you!"

Yokumaru's looking down, not shoulders slumped. "I'd like to come, too."

Naruto turns to Hinata. "We can take 'em. It shouldn't be any different from us walking from village to village. Like the Tsuchikage said, people can't even enter, so we'll just go there to look around and be on our way back. We probably won't have any trouble on the way."

Well, that jinxed it.

Hinata nervously looks between them and the Tsuchikage as if expecting the old man to confirm or deny.

Onoki shrugs. "It's a simple trip, we're not sending you to fight or anything."

Hinata sighs. "Very well." And holds Naruto's hand. A part of her is still worried about the unknown nature of their current mission, but the two of them are there to protect them, as they have been all this time.

Kotori pumps her fist. "Yes!"

Yokumaru smiles.

Shoto bows. "We won't cause trouble, I swear it."

"Akatsuchi, you're going as their guide. Prepare to leave first thing tomorrow."

The man stands up and bows. "Yes, sir."

"Ittan!" Onoki yells so he can be heard from outside and on cue, a man sporting a goatee opens the door and stands at attention. "Show Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga where they'll be staying for the duration of their mission."

Ittan gives a firm nod. "Yes, sir."

Onoki turns to Naruto and Hinata. "We did have to make some last minute changes, seeing as you have three children with you now, but I hope you find it comfortable."

Hinata bows politely. "Thank you for your consideration."

With that, they're all led away, into the streets of the Hidden Stone Village. As the name suggests, it's a natural stronghold, built into a ravine and surrounded by tall cliff sides. Not unlike the Hidden Cloud, it makes use of the landscape for housing, but whereas that village uses the mountains as a base to build their homes on, this village uses the rocky terrain itself as houses. Either carved naturally or with the use of Earth Style jutsu, nearly every building is carved into massive protruding earthen structures.

They're taken to an apartment complex, handed their keys, and wished a good evening. Inside is a fairly cosy home, considering it's carved from bedrock. Fully furnished with everything they need, and with 2 rooms. One room with a king bed, and one with three separate beds apparently for the kids. There's evidence of that room being tampered with Earth Style; this was possibly a 3-room apartment before, but then one of the three would have to sleep separately.

They all get their things in order and make themselves feel as at home as they can. Naruto and Hinata sit on the couch, Naruto with his hand over her shoulders and Hinata resting her head on his chest. The kids were getting their room ready until recently and are now on the balcony, looking out into the village.

"So I guess this is gonna be home for the next 2 months." Naruto rubs her shoulder, getting cosy.

"It still feels surreal. And we'll still have the Hidden Sand and Hidden Mist after that. And then… we can finally go home." She snuggles under his arm.

"Hah, 'finally'? We only just started the mission."

"True, but it was just the two of us. Now we have Kotori, and Yokumaru, and Shoto to think about. And there's still our living situation after we get to the Hidden Leaf." She holds his hand and wraps it around her like a shawl.

"Still worried about that? Granny Tsunade said she'd take care of it, and we'll have a home of our own when we get back." He talks about their life together as if it's always been like this. "Or is something else bothering you?" He looks down at her inquisitively.

"I'm sorry. I guess I'm still nervous about moving too fast. Aren't you?" She looks up to him, almost apologetically for thinking this way.

"Hmm." He thinks for a second. "Nope. 'Cause every time I think about it, I get really happy, y'know? Worrying never crosses my mind when I think about you."

Her cheeks flush with red and she buries her face. "You can't just say something sweet like that, it's not fair."

Naruto grins and kisses her on the temple. "We'll be fine. You're incredibly strong, caring, thoughtful, brave." She can't help but smile, all her worries washed away. "Second only to me, of course." They both break into laughter.

"Naruto-shisho!" Shoto calls out as the three of them come running into the living room. Although the moment they see how snuggly Naruto and Hinata are, they turn around. "Actually, maybe later."

"No, come back." Naruto beckons them to return, as Hinata sits in a more… presentable position. "What is it?"

The three of them look between each other and nod, and Shoto is the one to bring it up. "We saw a training ground not far from here."

"Hah, and ya wanna give it a whirl?"

They all nod.

"Well." Naruto looks to Hinata. "I see no reason not to."

She nods in agreement. "And we do need to buy at least some groceries. We'd need to go out, either way."

"Alright!" Naruto jumps to his feet. "Let's go." He makes his way to the balcony and looks around, followed by the kids and then Hinata. "Where is it?"

Kotori points. "Over there."

He nods. "Alright." He grabs Shoto and Yokumaru, who yelp in surprise. "Hinata, grab Kotori." And he Flickers away.

Kotori looked confused before she saw what Naruto did.

Hinata chuckles and grabs Kotori. "Hold right." And she follows.

-x-

" **Ninja Art: Feather Kunai"**

Two feathers fly at Shoto, who manages to swat them away with a simple kata with his darkened hands.

" **Crystal Style: Crystal Wall"**

The small wall juts out under him, but he manages to step back. With his vision blocked, Yokumaru jumps on top and just as Shoto is about to strike at him, he Flickers just behind the Teshin ready to attack. Shoto's attack cracks the wall, and Yokumaru uses the opening to attack. Shoto is pushed against the wall, but his more extensive training kicks in and he manages to counter and push back.

Kotori uses the wall as a prop, as well, appearing behind and over him.

" **Ninja Art: Feather Curtain"**

Shoto's vision becomes obscured by multiple sparrow feathers. Both Kotori and Yokumaru use this chance to get in close and they manage to get Shoto off his balance and knock him back a bit, but the boy's taijutsu proves superior. His Earth Spear really does hurt but he's not hitting at full strength, holding back at a reasonable level. He regains the upper hand in terms of taijutsu and they back off.

Kotori grins. "You're really good."

Shoto smirks and brushes his cheek with his sleeve. "You two're pretty good. Naruto-shisho has taught you well, but you're not there yet." He runs forward and forms seals.

" **Earth Style: Earth Flowing Spear"**

"You can do that, too?!" Kotori shouts out as they dodge out of the way of a large rock spike piercing up from the ground.

Seeing that, Yokumaru gets an idea. His walls were used against them before, and he might be able to do the same. Although the person who cracked his walls was a Hyuga with a special form of taijutsu, and he doesn't have anything of the sort. He can't crack his own walls and this stone looks far too sturdy for him. His mind wavers for a moment, and Shoto takes advantage of that.

Instead, Shoto swings his arm and roughly brushes his dark fingers against the Flowing Spear. Part of it cracks and he sends dust flying in Yokumaru's eyes, allowing Shoto to down him.

" **Ninja Art Aviary: Peacock"**

A young male peacock materializes and runs toward Shoto. It's nowhere near as colourful or big as an adult, but she's still far off from getting a larger one. Its tail is also a dull colour and much shorter, but it still takes up much of Shoto's field of vision when it spreads it. He tries to shove to the side, but it's vicious and intent on getting right up in his face.

Before he can deal with it, Kotori comes running at him from the side of the peacock.

"Too rash." He takes a stance, ready to face her.

When he tries to hit, though, his hand goes right through and her form disappears. Clone. Another 2 Kotoris come at him- one from the other side of the peacock, and one jumping above it.

Unable to discern which one is real in time, he tries to counter both of them at once but they both disappear. The real Kotori reveals herself to be just behind the Clone that came from the side. Shoto tries to punch at her, but she immediately fires 2 Feather Kunai and they strike right into his fist.

Shoto cries out in pain. His Earth Spear is effective, but it's still not at the level it can be and the Feather Kunai were enough to pierce through his skin and draw blood.

At this point, Naruto and Hinata intervene.

"Shoto, I'm so sorry..." Kotori panics around him as he gets the feathers unstuck from his fist.

"It's fine." He grunts in pain. It's not really fine, but he'll live.

Naruto helps Yokumaru get off his butt.

Hinata takes out a med kit and begins treating their wounds- applying ointment, wrapping it in a bandage. "It's nothing serious. It should heal in a day or so." She gives a warm smile that reminds Shoto of his own mother.

He looks away shyly and mutters. "Thanks."

Yokumaru rubs his shoulder. "I guess we can't exactly beat you taijutsu."

Shoto raises his wrapped fist. "Sure you can." He clenches it. "But I'll make sure this won't happen again." His face becomes… odd after that. His cheeks are puffed and he's breathing through his nose.

"Good!" Kotori chimes in. "Cause we'll be trying something different next time." Kotori leans in closer to him, seeing his changed expression. "... It hurt when you closed your fist?"

He gives a pained nod. "It did. It really did."

Naruto ruffles their heads and laughs. "Alright, let's get back… well, home, I guess."

They return the same way they left- by Flickering up the stone structures and into their apartment. Naruto and Hinata leave them alone for a bit to go shopping. They only need dinner for now, and maybe some non-perishables, since they're all going away tomorrow and won't really be around for a few days.

When they get back, Hinata cooks a meal with the help of Kotori. Naruto, bless his heart, tried to help but maybe that'll require some separate training on its own. They sit down and share a proper meal for the first time, all five of them.

They talk and they laugh, and for some, this truly feels like home.

* * *

First thing in the morning, the group meets up with Akatsuchi at the village's main road, prepared to head out with all their essentials packed.

When Naruto and Hinata first met Kotori, she had no training in the ninja arts and she had to be carried if they were to reach their destination in time, but now? They're all able to hold their own fairly well. They're obviously still not at the speeds they can be and progress is still slow, but Kotori, Yokumaru, and Shoto do a good job keeping up and they push through their exhaustion and break their limits. In its own way, this is better training than the spars and lessons they do.

It took them 2 days to reach this mysterious temple.

Looking at it from afar, it could easily be confused as another mountain or hilltop but approaching it makes it clear that it's artificial. It's an odd shape, with many geometrical parts dotted over it, and many caves that lead inside.

Akatsuchi has been taking the lead so far and he's the first to recognize it. "Welcome to the Temple of the Stone's Song."

Hinata looks it over. "Stone's Song?"

Their guide nods. "Yep. We don't really know the full details, but it seems like it's an extremely intricate tunnel system. It's quiet now, but when the wind picks up and passes through the caves, it howls and whistles like a song. It's kind of beautiful but also kind of eerie. People of the past thought it to be haunted."

Naruto tenses up. "H-haunted? It's… not really, right?"

Kotori grabs onto Naruto's shirt. "T-that's just a story, right?"

Shoto looks between the two of them. "Don't tell me, you two…"

Akatsuchi waves dismissively and continues to the entrance. "It's just superstition. We know better now."

Naruto pats Kotori on the head. "See? Nothing to worry about."

"I wasn't worried at all! I just thought it might be some very old complex jutsu!"

Hinata giggles and ushers them all along. Coming right up to the entrance, Akatsuchi presses his hand against the open pathway but meets resistance from seemingly nothing.

"That's how every path is. We've tried everything, and not even Lord Tsuchikage's Dust Style can break it."

Naruto whistles. "That's pretty strong. I saw what he can do in a fight."

Hinata activates her Byakugan to scan the area, but quickly deactivates it and shakes her head. "I can't see anything inside, either. It completely blocks my vision."

The kids tilt their heads back to look at the very tall structure. "It's so big…"

"Uhhh, guys?" Everyone snaps their heads to Naruto, only to see him standing inside, where Akatsuchi was just unable to pass. "I got in."

"WHAT?" Akatsuchi hurries over and tries to pass but is met by the same resistance. "How did you get in?"

"I don't know! I just walked and entered, like normal." Naruto steps out and back to demonstrate.

Hinata approaches. "Lord Tsuchikage said this was possibly built by the Uzumaki. Could it be that a powerful seal was placed to only allow Uzumaki to enter?"

"That's… possible. It's one thing we've never really tried, as we don't have any Uzumaki that we know of."

"Umm…" Yokumaru's voice breaks the conversation. Akatsuchi and Hinata turn to where his voice is coming from- inside, right next to Naruto, along with Kotori and Shoto. "We got in, too."

Akatsuchi scratches his head. "There goes that theory."

Seeing as the others had luck, Hinata steps forward and enters just fine. She turns around to their guide. "It… seems like only you're not allowed to enter."

"Maybe if you guys are allowed to enter, you can pull me in?" Akatsuchi presses himself against the invisible wall that exists only for him.

Naruto and Hinata reach out to try and pull him inside, but it's no use. Their hands and arms can pass just fine to grab the Stone ninja but when it comes to trying to get him inside- nothing. Naruto keeps on pulling, squishing the other shinobi against the air.

Akatsuchi taps out and is let go, finally able to catch his breath. His cheeks are a little reddened from where they were pressed. He sighs. "Alright, I guess it's up to you two. Figure out this place's purpose if you can. I'll wait out here and be on the lookout for any changes to the structure."

Akatsuchi taps at his walkie-talkie and checks that it's still working. "Testing, testing."

Naruto and Hinata's react. Hinata responds on her own radio. "It seems like they still work beyond the barrier."

Naruto looks around further down the corridor. "They didn't have radios back then, right? Guess they couldn't protect against the future."

"No, I guess not. Stay in touch, you two."

They nod and head on further inside. Hinata activates her Byakugan once again and this time, she can see just fine. The tunnels truly are complex and many of them twist and bend and don't actually go anywhere. It takes her a bit of time to make a mental map of the place and scan every area.

Thankfully, it doesn't look trapped in any way, so they're perfectly safe. The structure itself is stable enough, so there's not a whole lot to worry about there. The main, and only, thing of note is a room in the middle, drenched in sealing formulae. The team reaches the room safely thanks to Hinata's guidance and look around. The formulae are vast and numerous, covering basically the entire wall and floor with markings.

Hinata furrows her brow. "I don't recognize any of these seals or what they're for. They've chakra flowing through them, though, so whatever they do, they can be activated."

Naruto, not really familiar with seals, tries to test something. He sits down to meditate and after a few moments, enters Sage Mode. He opens his eyes and scans the room. "Whatever they are, they're infused with natural energy, too. They're not ordinary seals."

The kids are in completely uncharted territory for them. Kotori sticks with her mom. "So what should we do? Why were we even allowed to enter?"

"I don't know, honey. But for now, we should at least take note of the seals. Ah." She activates her radio. "Akatsuchi?"

"I hear you." A distorted voice comes from the machine.

"There's only one main room, full of sealing formulae. We don't know for what purpose but we'll write them down. It may take a while."

"Take as much time as needed. You're the first people to enter, since the incident with the Hidden Leaf."

She deactivates the radio and brings out her scrolls, ready to begin. This really will take a while.

Naruto's not the most eager to write, especially when it's this much, but there's little else they can do. As he sets up his backpack, a voice echoes in his mind.

" _ **Naruto. Let me out. This… I think I know what this is."**_

"What?" Naruto turns around in his mindscape to take a look at Kurama. "For real? What is it then?"

" _ **I can't say for certain. Let me out so I can take a closer room. I can't focus like this."**_ Something about Kurama's voice is different. If Naruto didn't know any better, he'd say the Fox' voice is trembling and nervous. But that can't be true, right?

Naruto creates a Shadow Clone of himself that bears some differences. His facial markings are more pronounced, his eyes are red, and his nails much sharper and longer.

"Uhh, Naruto-shisho?" Shoto, and Yokumaru beside him, are a bit taken aback by the change in their teacher.

Kurama turns around, eyeing the boys. " _ **Not quite."**_

The real Naruto smiles reassuringly. "It's alright. That's...a friend. I guess I'll have to properly explain what that's all about, huh? But for now, you have nothing to worry about, alright?"

They both nod. "Alright."

Naruto pats them on the shoulders and goes to meet up with Kurama.

Hinata, seeing that the Nine-Tailed Fox is out, approaches them. "Do you know something, Kurama?"

The Fox runs his fingers across the seals on the wall. " _ **I might."**_ With furrowed brows he examines them and then moves on to the next ones. He steps back and gets a closer look of the room. The more he looks at it, the more his face becomes… panicked and worried. " _ **It's a song."**_

"A… song?" Naruto crosses his arms and looks around. He doesn't see it. "I mean, I guess that makes sense, Akatsuchi said this place is called the Stone's Song, right?"

"You recognize it, Kurama?" As Hinata approaches Kurama, she spots a single tear running down his cheek, before he turns away from her to wipe it away. She didn't even know the Nine-Tails could cry, or why he would in this situation.

Kurama kneels down in the centre of the room and mumbles to himself. " _ **This… can't be you, can it? Tamamo…"**_ Kurama begins humming a melody. As he does, the seals light up in order, going along with his signing. It's a soft, calming melody and the formulae hum along with him as they light up, creating an orchestra.

"Ey, Kurama, this is safe, right?" Naruto brings everyone closer together, making sure they don't lose each other.

Kurama doesn't respond and keeps humming. The seals grow louder and brighter as he continues the song until eventually it becomes deafening and blinding. Everyone calls out to each other and make sure they're in as much contact as they can be.

When the sound and light dies down, they open their eyes and find themselves on a road. Naruto and Hinata's first instinct is to make sure the kids are okay. No one seems harmed.

"Where… are we?" Naruto turns around to see the giant gates of the Hidden Leaf right in front of them. "What? We got back home?"

"Was it a teleportation formula, like the Fourth Hokage's?"

In his mindscape, Nartuo turns to Kurama, ready to scold his teammate. "A little warning woulda been-" he stops when he gets a better look at the Fox. He looks dejected and the fur around his eyes seems… wet. "Kurama?"

Kurama lies down and looks away. " _ **It's nothing. I'm sorry. I acted without thinking."**_

"It's weird hearing you apologize, but it ain't nothing, right? Who's Tamamo?"

Kurama huffs and his claws scratch against the floor. " _ **Look, we can talk about it later. I don't want to-"**_ He lifts his head. " _ **Wait, can you feel that?"**_

"That's not a good way to change the subject, y'know!" Naruto protests.

" _ **No, actually feel it. It's my chakra! Coming from inside the village."**_

Naruto looks inside and as Kurama pointed out, it's there. "But… how? Hinata." Naruto turns around. "Something's wrong. I can feel Kurama's chakra inside."

Hinata places a hand on her boyfriend's arm. "There's something else wrong." She noticed it from the beginning but couldn't exactly place it. It all looks vaguely similar to the Hidden Leaf, but at the same time, it didn't. Minor details that seemed off and now she finally sees what's wrong. "Look." She points to the cliffside that overlooks the village.

There's only one face on the Hokage monument.

* * *


	24. Chapter 24

Hinata points to the cliffside that overlooks the village.

There's only one face on the Hokage monument.

Naruto looks around, although they're still a good distance from the village itself and only the gate can really be seen. It's different. It's similar enough that he missed it at first, but the wall is definitely not the exact one they're used to.

"W-why's the Hokage monument only have the First's face?!" Naruto panics.

"I don't know. A genjutsu perhaps?" Hinata activates her Byakugan and scans the area. "Or… not. All of this is somehow real."

"Sensei, where are we?" Yokumaru sticks close to his fellow students.

"We don't know yet. But we can find out." Naruto forms a Shadow Clone, releasing Kurama once again. "Alright, Kurama, what's going on?"

" _ **As if I'd know. I'm just as lost as you are."**_

"But, you knew about the formula, you knew how to activate it!"

" _ **It was a lucky guess! Just because I knew it doesn't mean I knew what it'd do."**_ Kurama huffs.

"So how _did_ you know it?" Naruto's getting pushy.

" _ **It's a long story, one that I've no intention of telling you about, so drop it."**_ The Fox is clearly agitated and anxious about what they'd just been through.

"Please, Kurama." Hinata pleads. "If you know of a way to undo whatever it is that happened…"

" _ **Well, I don't. So you better figure it out."**_ With that, Kurama dismisses the Shadow Clone he was inhabiting.

Naruto clicks his tongue. "Damnit, why's he gotta be like that…"

Hinata places a hand on his arm. "If he says he doesn't know, then he doesn't. Forcing him won't accomplish anything, so for now let's see what we can find on our own."

"You're right. I guess our first order of business is… going into the village?" Naruto looks nervous, the uncertainty of the situation getting to him.

The kids are even more nervous. Hinata leans down and smiles warmly. "It'll be fine. We'll protect you no matter what happens, okay?" The kids nod firmly in response.

The five go forward, hand in hand, but after taking only a few steps, Naruto and Hinata spring into action. An attacker. They grab the kids and jump back as a flaming sphere comes roaring right at them.

" **Fire Style: Great Fireball"**

Just as it's about to head right towards them and impact the ground, a torrent of water comes rushing directly at it.

" **Water Style: Water Bullet"**

The collision of fire and water fills the entire area with sizzling steam, blocking their vision.

Hinata immediately activates her Byakugan to track her assailant. " _If the Fireball misses, then the Water Bullet masks their presence. That means they have a sensor who can see through it."_ Right on cue, she sees shuriken and kunai from all directions flying directly at them.

From her position, she knows that she can't hit all of them, and Naruto doesn't have a visual. Her Vacuum Palms won't get all of them. This is exactly the situation where the Revolving Heaven thrives and while she hasn't mastered it, she's been able to master something else. Something that uses the same principle and came to life during her training in Mount Myoboku, thanks to Naruto.

She gathers chakra throughout her entire body, pushing it out as much as she can to cover the entire area around them.

" **Rasentengan"**

A version of the Revolving Heaven that doesn't require the user to spin to create a defensive perimeter, and a version of the Rasengan that's formed around the user's body rather than their palm. A technique possible thanks to the Hyuga's clan intricate chakra control.

The shuriken are blown away and some of the steam directly around them is, too, although not all of it.

"Keep it up, Hinata." Naruto places a hand on her back and the two combine their chakras. He sends his Wind nature through her and it gets added to the Rasentengan, increasing its speed and force, creating a whirlwind that disperses the steam entirely.

" **Wind Style: Rasentengan"**

Gaining their visibility, they now see who their assailants are.

One man with brown slicked back hair and dark grey armour, and next to him a man with white hair and piercing red eyes, and blue armour with white fur collar. The man in blue is unmistakable.

"Lord… Second?"

Tobirama Senju steps forward. "I'm mildly impressed. It would appear you're not entirely inept as far as intruders go. Perhaps you have the skills to back up your brazen intrusion."

"Intrusion?" Naruto somewhat relaxes his defensive stance. "Whatcha talking about, you know us! We fought side by side, so what was all this for?"

Tobirama tilts his head. "What are you babbling on about? I've never seen you in my life. You have the Byakugan yet I don't recognize you as any of the Hyuga, you somehow possess the Nine-Tails' chakra. We'll take you in and Yacho Yamanaka can figure out the truth. Your compliance is unnecessary."

"If you wanted to know, you coulda just asked!"

"As if I'd take your word for anything."

The man in grey armour chuckles. "So stern, Lord Tobirama." He bites his finger and smears it on his palm. "Allow me to handle this." He slams his hand on the ground and from the following puff of smoke, a large monkey appears. "Let's get to work, Enoudai."

Enoudai looks at his opponents. "2 teenagers and 3 children. Have you grown soft, Sasuke? I told you this village life would make you rusty."

"Don't be fooled by their appearance. That boy possesses the Nine-Tails' chakra." The man takes a stance, one of his palms behind him toward the large monkey and opened upward.

"Oh? So he's like those blasted Kinkaku and Ginkaku. Very well then." Enoudai grabs his hand and transforms into an intricate black quarterstaff, a golden colour adorning the tips.

The man spins the staff around and assumes a battle pose. "Leader of the Hidden Leaf's Sarutobi clan, renowned as the Mountain Leaper, Sasuke Sarutobi will face you in battle."

"So dramatic." Tobirama sighs.

He rushes at them, swirling his quarterstaff.

Hinata moves to grab Kotori and jump back to get her to safety. " _Sasuke Sarutobi? But that's… Lord Third's father."_ Naruto does the same with Shoto and Yokumaru.

Sasuke catches up with them and swings to hit them both but they dodge swiftly to the side, but the tips of the staff are still pointed at them. Few know of the Monkey summons' ability and it's usually their downfall. The quarterstaff extends rapidly, ready to strike them in the back but they dodge again, with Hinata ducking down and Naruto jumping over it.

Sasuke is both annoyed and impressed. " _These kids… they know…"_ The staff this time expands, growing thicker and more massive than before, to strike them mid-dodge but Hinata gets out of the way in time, and Naruto uses the staff's larger form as a platform to get further back.

They skid on the ground and put the kids down.

Shoto brings his hands together and they turn a darker brown. "We can help!"

Yokumaru takes a step back in fear, his breathing intensified.

"It'll be fine, Yokumaru." Kotori summons an adolescent Lightning Condor by her side.

"R-right…"

"A Teshin and... a Hoyouku? I thought they'd died out long ago." Tobirama observes from the back.

"You three stay back." Hinata doesn't take her eyes off Sarutobi. "Sasuke Sarutobi, Tobirama Senju, we're not your enemies!" She calls out to them. "We don't wish to fight you."

"I don't think they're giving us any say in that, Hinata."

A torrent of water comes surging from behind and above Sasuke, aiming right at the group.

" **Water Style: Water Bullet"**

Seeing this, Naruto springs into action. He gathers chakra and inflates his cheeks, letting out a torrent of his own, but of darker liquid.

" **Toad Oil Bomb"**

The oil clashes with the water and stops its progress. The dirt road in front of them is now soaked in both liquids.

Tobirama forms a single seal that Naruto has grown very accustomed to "I'm done playing around." and summons two more of himself to his side.

" **Shadow Clones"**

Sasuke smirks. "Your new jutsu, huh?"

"That's right, now let's see how well it does in battle." Just as Tobirama is about to spring forward, he sees his foe do the exact same seal.

" **Multi Shadow Clones"**

The forest is filled with dozens, if not even hundreds of the unknown to them blonde. On the road, atop the tree, on the bark. And all of them material Clones, all of them ready to pounce.

Tobirama looks slack jawed. "That's… impossible."

Sasuke tries to keep all of them in his line of sight but it's simply impossible. "But how? This is a jutsu that even Lord Tobirama has yet to use in combat."

Tobirama feels anger welling up in him. "You… just who are you?"

"Oh, so NOW you wanna talk?"

The three Tobiramas weave chakra and each fire a highly pressurized stream of water from their mouths, much more so than before.

" **Water Style: Water Severing Wave"**

The water reaches far and completely cuts through the surrounding trees like they're nothing.

Many Clones are caught in the attack, but many manage to jump through and head right for Tobirama. "Alright, if you won't stop, then I'll force you to!" The remaining Narutos gather chakra in their hands, expanding greatly as he comes raining down.

" **Massive Rasengan Barrage"**

Tobirama and his Shadow Clones manage to damage even more clones with their Water Severing Wave, but not all of them. Sasuke jumps high and expands his quarterstaff to reach as many as he can. Enoudai's staff form clashes with the Rasengan and they come to a standstill. " _This jutsu is impressive, to be able to withstand the Adamantine Staff…"_

Naruto's Shadow Clones come crashing down on the ground, their Rasengans making a huge impact in the ground, leaving behind a huge dust wall.

The real Naruto and Hinata are still laying back, lying in wait for a chance to strike. Hinata spots movement from the corner of her extended vision. "Naruto! To our left!"

Tobirama emerges from behind the trees, just as Sasuke emerges from the dust.

" **Fire Style: Great Fire Destruction"  
** " **Water Style: Great Waterfall"**

Sasuke spews out an intense flame that covers the entire path, while Tobirama summons a huge vortex of water. Both of them aimed right at Naruto's group.

Naruto barely reacts to the high level ninjutsu thrown their way. "I'm done playing around." His voice is even and the kids are somehow more startled by their usually cheerful sensei sounding like that, than they are of the deadly ninjutsu heading their way.

Naruto becomes engulfed in orange chakra, ready to unleash Kurama's might.

However, before he can, the infernal flames and surging water are stopped. The ground around them breaks and large trees emerge from the ground, completely blocking Sasuke and Tobirama's attacks.

" **Sage Art Wood Style: Forest Tree Barrier"**

When the trees submerge back into the ground, two new figures make their presence known. A dark-haired man clad in red armour, and a woman in red robes, her bright red hair tied in two buns with what appear to be sealing tags hanging from them.

Hashirama focuses his gaze on his two friends, full of rage. "Tobirama. Sasuke. Were you trying to kill these children?" The ground under him cracks as he sounds out a wave of killing intent.

Sasuke falls to one knee from the pressure. "Lord… First…"

Tobirama manages to stay on his feet, but his knees are heavily buckled. "Elder Brother… They are an unknown entity…"

"No, Tobirama, they are known entities." The red haired woman bows to Naruto and Hinata. "I deeply apologize for the rude welcome." The woman gives off an air of elegance and refinement. Hinata is polite and aware of social etiquette , but this woman is different. Almost like what a grown-up Hinata might be like. "We must go someplace isolated, away from prying eyes."

Hashirama calmly walks over to the nearby trees that were damaged in the scuffle. He places a hand on one of them and forms seals with only one hand.

" **Sage Art Wood Style: Restoration"**

With that, every single tree that was cut down by Tobirama's Severing Waves begin growing back to their original size; the trees currently on fire by Sasuke's Fire Style grow over the flames and snuff them out. The forest is back to how it was previously.

"Tobirama, take us somewhere safe."

* * *

Thanks to Tobirama's Flying Thunder God, they were able to immediately go to a remote location. The redhead sits down and motions for Naruto's group to do the same.

She turns to Hashirama. "Dear husband, would you allow us some privacy?"

"Of course." He nods and goes outside, motioning for Tobirama and Sasuke to follow him.

Once they close the door, Tobirama stares at it as if he'd somehow see what's happening inside. "Elder Brother, do you think this is wise?"

"I agree. I don't doubt her ability to defend herself, but is trusting these strangers truly wise?" Sasuke shares in the future Second Hokage's worries.

"She said she's aware of their purpose, but wouldn't divulge any more information. If she won't share it, then that just means it's sensitive information. I trust her completely."

"You're being naive, Elder Brother. If this information would affect the village in any way-"

"Tobirama." The Hokage stops his brother with a glare. "Drop it. That's an order."

"... Yes, sir." He begrudgingly agrees.

Inside, the redhead looks at the door, with a light smile. "I imagine by this point Tobirama has been told to quell his worries." She then turns to her guests. "I apologize for the late introduction. My name is Mito Uzumaki, and I have been expecting your arrival for some years now."

"You… knew we were coming?"

"Not of you specifically, but I knew someone would." Mito takes out a scroll, one ancient and torn. "I once visited the mysterious Temple of Stone's Song and found this scroll, among some others. The writings inside this scroll activated upon your arrival. I spent years studying its secrets and discovered it to be a space-time ninjutsu, however the method of activation was unknown to me."

"Awesome! So that means you're our ticket outta here, right?" Naruto nearly stands up from his seat.

"But maybe before that, there's something else for us to accomplish. If we were allowed to enter and activate the Temple's seals where others weren't, there must be a reason for it."

"I'm not certain as to how. If you're here, then you're already aware as to how to activate it and thus can do it once more to return." Mito nods to Hinata. "Perhaps you're correct and it's no mere coincidence that you were transported to the Hidden Leaf. Our meeting is meant to happen, although I cannot fathom as to what our meeting is for."

"Excuse me, Lady Mito." Hinata chimes in. "But you said you went to the Temple, correct? Then how were you able to enter? There's supposed to be powerful seals in place that prevent entrance, and yet the five of us were able to enter freely. And now you say you were able to, as well?"

Mito sighs. "That, unfortunately, I do not know. I'd suspected it was due to my being an Uzumaki, but other members of the clan were unable to enter."

Naruto is sitting down cross legged, in contrast to the others in the room. "Maybe that's why we got sent to you- 'cause you're an Uzumaki. Maybe this is where we get answers." He lightly turns his head to look to Hinata.

Hinata nods. "The Great Beasts."

Mito's expression turns serious. "Why would you want to know about that? How do you even know about them?" Naruto and Hinata look between each other, unsure how to continue this conversation. Seeing this, Mito reassures them. "Whatever has happened, wherever you are from, you've my word it will not leave this room. If they've re-emerged then you should know how imperative it is to stop them."

Hinata tries not to reveal too much. "I'm not sure how much we can say without saying more than we should, but the Great Beasts are a threat where we're from. Someone has brought them back from their seals and… we do not have anyone who knows what they are or how to prevent their emergence."

"I see. That is worrisome, indeed."

"So, you do know about 'em, right? I've already fought two of 'em, but they were still weak from the gates."

"I know some, yes. As much as one can know history dating back hundreds of years. They were monstrous beings, rivaling the Tailed Beasts in strength but lacking their sentience and ability to co-exist. They ran rampant and often clashed with the people of the land or the Tailed Beasts. Sometimes even both at once, leading to a certain degree of cooperation. That remained until a clan of Sealing users imprisoned then in the summoned gates of Rashomon, said to connect our world to another."

"If these gates are the same as the one I saw, then someone's figured out how to unseal them and call them back from that other world." Naruto recalls the little bit that Kurama and Gyuki knew about them. "That means we just gotta find someone who knows about the gates, right? And maybe we can seal them for good this time.

"Yes, did we see one come out of a gate, which I presume is the Rashomon. I've heard of them told in stories. Supposedly the First Hokage is able to call upon them?"

Mito nods. "Correct. I taught him to summon them. However, summoning them and opening them are two vastly different aspects. The seals placed on the Rashomon are ancient and powerful, and require decades of dedicated study. I'm renowned as a master, among the best of the Uzumaki clan, and yet even I could not fathom how to open them. Whoever it is you're facing is powerful and the knowledge they possess likely does not end there."

Naruto tightens his fist. "So it's not much more than we already know. 'Cause it sounds like our main option is to get rid of the guys who do know how to open the gates."

"Lacking the ancient knowledge of the Rashomon's seal, that is one possible course of action, yes. Another, is to delve deep into their psyche and connect to the person inside of them." Mito closes her in contemplation.

"Wait. Whaddya mean, 'person inside them'?" Naruto leans forward.

"That is one of the secrets about the Great Beasts that has been preserved even moreso than their existence." She opens her eyes. "The Great Beasts used to be people."

None of them see or know how tense Kurama got upon hearing that. He scrapes the ground with his claws with a hint of panic in his eyes. " _ **Did you know something, Tamamo? Is that why… that place..."**_ He prays Naruto doesn't pay him a visit right now, because he won't have the mental fortitude to keep a conversation.

Hinata and Naruto are unable to hide their surprise. "Those creatures… are people? But how?"

"In a certain way, they can be likened to jinchuriki, the hosts of the Tailed Beasts. Long ago, chakra was more abundant in the world, especially with the presence of the Tailed Beasts. Some tried to take advantage of their strength and absorb it into themselves, but it proved too much. The more they absorbed, the more monstrous they became, until they eventually turned into Beasts of their own. Devoid of the emotions they once had, they rampaged, guided only by the foreign chakra that now ran wild within them. It wouldn't be until much later that shinobi found a different way of containing the Tailed Beasts, but the damage was already done. A new threat, arguably greater than the Tailed Beasts now roamed the world."

Hinata grips her pants as tightly as she can. "That's terrible."

Naruto stares at the ground in disbelief. "For all these years, those people have been like that, with no way of getting back to normal?"

"Perhaps you hold the solution, ones who've traveled through space and time. Perhaps you are the ones to finally free them and put an end to their suffering. I, however, fear I cannot help you any more than I have for I lack the knowledge to do so."

"Then, do you know how we're supposed to get back to where we belong?"

"I would assume the same way you arrived here. Go to the Temple of Stone's Song and activate it."

"Then we would best get going." Hinata goes to stand up. The kids follow. "I fear what would happen if we stay longer than we're supposed to."

Mito stands up, as well, and goes to open the door, allowing Hashirama, Tobirama, and Sasuke to enter the room. "I'm inclined to agree. I hope I have helped to an extent."

Tobirama looks annoyed, although he always does so nothing's really changed.. "Have you finished?"

"We have, yes." Mito turns to Hashirama. "I've a request, dear husband. They need to reach the Temple of Stone's Song immediately. I was hoping Tobirama and Sasuke could act as escort."

"What?" Tobirama nearly laughs at the suggestion. "Why would I bother going deep into the Land of Earth for this lot who we know nothing of."

"I know enough of them, and I ask that you take my word that they are to be trusted."

Hashirama nods. "If you trust them, then that's good enough for me. You two are to leave right away."

Mito places a hand on Tobirama's chest. "I know you've a strong sense of duty, dear brother. I know how much you love this village and I can assure you I share in that love and would tell you were there any danger to it."

Tobirama scrunches his nose. "Don't do this to me, Mito."

"You're a brave, kind man and I trust you implicitly and I ask that you do the same. Those children are our allies."

He clicks his tongue. "Fine, I'll do it." And begins walking to the group.

Sasuke laughs and joins them. "You've left seals around the Land of Earth, correct?"

Tobirama approaches. "Of course I have, don't insult me." He beckons Naruto's group to get together as they already did before, and they all disappear in a flash.

Hashirama and Mito watch on as they leave. The Hokage turns to face his wife and presses his forehead against her and rubs her shoulders. "Is there anything you _can_ share?"

"Do you trust me, my love?" She wraps her arms around him.

"With all that I am."

"Then just now know the Hidden Leaf you've worked so hard for is in safe hands." She leans in to kiss her husband.

He smiles and holds her close. "That's good enough for me."

* * *

The group of now seven are steadily making their way to their destination. Thanks to Tobirama Senju's precautions in placing seals as regularly as he can, they're extremely close to the familiar Temple, mere minutes away even.

"Just so you know," The Senju is leading the charge. "I don't trust you one bit. Make one move I don't approve of and I won't hesitate to attack."

"Yeah, yeah, you've said that already. Look, the sooner we get there, the sooner we'll be outta your hair and you won't have to worry about us again, alright?"

He scoffs. "We'd already be there if you'd trained your charges better in the ninja arts."

Naruto grumbles, but Hinata places a comforting hand on his shoulder.

The kids can't help but take the words to heart. They have to admit, they've had it somewhat easy since Naruto appeared in their lives. They're significantly better, but are they really doing everything they can to improve? Or are they taking it slow because Naruto is too nice to them?

After about half an hour, they're finally in front of the Temple of Stone's Song. They managed to avoid any main roads in case of Hidden Stone patrols, which was an easy task given that they have a sensory type, but you can never be too certain. Tobirama's powerful, his range is probably greater than most others so he should be able to sense others before they can sense them. They're right in front of the entrance with no enemies in range. They're completely safe unless…

" **Dust Style: Atomic Dismantling"**

A massive chakra signature suddenly appears out of nowhere. The one person who can't be detected.

Everyone jumps back, managing to avoid a large translucent pillar of light that encompases the area. Filled with a flash of light, it disappears and the ground where it landed disappears with it as if it was reduced to nothing.

A man floats down from the skies, his entire body wrapped in bandages. The one person in the entire Hidden Stone that Tobirama isn't able to detect. The First Tsuchikage's most trusted shinobi- Mu, the Null-Man.

"Tobirama Senju and Sasuke Sarutobi. What a surprise to find you here."

"Ah!" Naruto points to the new arrival. "It's the mummy guy!"

"We don't have the time." Tobirama immediately springs into action, forming seals.

" **Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet"**

He draws water from the air itself, a skill that not many Water Style users can pull off. A large serpentine creature heads right for Mu.

"Then I won't waste your time, if it's so precious to you." Mu is unfazed.

" **Dust Style: Atomic Dismantling"**

The Water Dragon getting blown provides a curtain of water that rains down on the area. Tobirama stands face-to-face with his foes, keeping him in place. In the short time it took for that to happen, the others took advantage of the situation and made a run for it. Naruto created three Shadow Clones to carry the kids faster.

Quick to act, Sasuke is already wielding his Adamantine Staff and uses its properties to swing at Muu from a great distance, trying to keep him at bay while they make a dash for the entrance.

Mu deftly floats around it, having the full control of his flight to move in every direction. Sasuke keeps thrusting, expanding and extending the staff until it gets extremely close to hitting him, which was never actually his intent. He just had to get the staff close enough. He just had to get the sealing formula close enough.

" **Hiraishin Slash"**

Tobirama appears from nowhere and cuts Mu on the arm. He swings once more for the head but Mu falls down to avoid him. The Stone Jounin grunts in pain and frustration.

"To think you'd have already marked the staff in that brief window. You're as annoying as ever, Tobirama."

As Tobirama falls to the ground, he smirks. "Thank you for the compliment." In an instant, he's already by Mu's side and goes for another slash, but the other man's prepared. "Keep moving, Sasuke!"

He can't predict where the Senju will come from, but as long as he doesn't stay still, his own movements can't be easily predicted, either. Tobirama appears several times, but Mu skillfully parries with his own swordplay. He does suffer a few more injuries in the clash but not as severe as they could have been, and Tobirama doesn't get out unscathed, either.

When Tobirama skids back in preparation from another attack, Mu immediately cuts the bandages on his right forearm where the Hiraishin formula was placed. He stabs the bandages, cutting the seal so it no longer functions.

"Why are you here, Tobirama? Who're the kids?"

Tobirama's expression or tone doesn't change in the least. "They're my illegal children from multiple affairs. I'm taking them on a vacation."

"Humour doesn't suit you." Mu spits out and weaves his chakra.

" **Earth Style: Rock Shelter"**

He slams his hands on the ground as an earthen dome appears around Tobirama, ready to enclose him. He's swift enough to dodge out of the way, but Mu has already finished weaving another set of hand signs.  
 **  
**" **Earth Style: Stone Bamboo Shoot"**

Four spikes of rock jut out in an attempt to pierce him, but he's made his own preparations.

" **Water Style: Water Severing Wave"**

The torrent of water isn't strong enough to cut through them as it did with the trees, but it allows him to propel himself away.

"Didn't even try Lightning Style. You wound me."

"And you haven't even tried your Dust Style again. Do you believe you can beat me without-" He stops mid sentence. His eyes widen. "Unless you can't. Sasuke, watch out!"

"Too late." Mu smirks under his mask.

-x-

Mere metres in front of the entrance, Sasuke begins forming hand signs after hearing the warning. " _There's no way he already managed to do that, is there?"_. As if on cue, a second Mu appears in front of the main entrance to the Temple.

" **Earth Style: Rock Golem"**

A giant humanoid made of earth and rock emerges from the ground and goes to strike directly at them, but Sasuke is already done.

" **Fire Style: Great Fire Destruction"**

He spits out a stream of fire that expands to cover nearly half of the building in front of them, creating an inferno that even they can feel despite not being the targets.

"Don't slow down for anything, leave him to me!"

As instructed, they keep running towards the fire as it eventually dies down. The Rock Golem is damaged but not destroyed. Mu's Clone managed to fly up to avoid the fire, his body covered in a stony exterior. Sasuke expands his staff strike and Mu swings his rock-covered fist to meet the Adamantine Staff. Tobirama once again appears from thin air to stab him in the shoulder.

"Damnit." Mu grabs the sword to try pull him closer, but Tobirama just teleports a few centimetres to the side, freeing himself. "You slippery bastard."

Down on the ground, Naruto and Hinata are charging forward while the Shadow Clones carry the kids. They join their hands and extend them forward towards the Rock Golem, chakra gather and swirling in their palms.

" **Gentle Step: Massive Spiraling Lion Fist"**

The Rock Golem manages to withstand for a respectable time, but their combination proves too much and it shatters, allowing them safe passage. Mu can only watch as they step over the threshold of the Temple.

"What? They can actually enter?!" Mu's anger grows. "What are you two planning, Senju?!" He shouts out.

-x-

Inside, Hinata once again leads them to the main hall, the same as they saw it before. Naruto lets Kurama take over and he once again sings the activation melody. And once again, the seals glow along with his humming right up until he finishes the song. They disappear from sight and a blast of energy is released from the temple that washes over everyone on the outside.

-x-

Tobirama, Sasuke, and Mu can do nothing to really protect themselves from the wave but it seems like they didn't need to. Nothing happened to them. Physically.

Tobirama lands on the ground next to his comrade, confused. "Sasuke? What were… we here for?"

The other man looks equally confused. "I'm… not sure. We were here to intercept Mu, right?

Tobirama rubs his head and looks to the Hidden Stone ninja, who seems to be in the same boat as them.

"Let's get out of here." Tobirama grabs his friend by the shoulder and teleports them away.

Mu lands on the ground and looks around. "Damnit, what just happened. My head's splitting apart."

After some minutes, a group of Hidden Stone shinobi come rushing toward him. The shortest and youngest approaches first.

"Lord Mu, what happened? What was Tobirama Senju doing here?"

Mu looks uneasily at the Temple of Stone's Song. "I don't know, Onoki. I don't know."

* * *

Naruto, Hinata, and the kids don't _feel_ any different. There was a flash of light just like before but they're still in the same place. Did it work? Should they have been transported to the Hidden Leaf again, or are they meant to be here?

Their questions are answered when the radio activates and Akatsuchi's panicked voice comes through. "Naruto! Hinata! Come in!"

Hinata answers. "Akatsuchi! We're here!"

"Oh, thank goodness. You've been silent for 10 minutes, what happened?"

"What? Just 10 minutes?"

"Well, yeah?"

The Temple begins to rumble. The ceiling breaks and chunks of stone fall and break on the ground. Kotori lets out a yelp. Naruto grabs Hinata's hand and begins running to the exit, along with his Clones who're still carrying the kids piggyback.

Yokumaru holds on tight. "Didn't we go through enough?"

Hinata is able to see which bits are about to fall and leads them around, avoiding the dangerous paths. When they reach the exit, Akatsuchi is there, standing a bit at a distance, having moved back once it started rumbling.

They make a dash for it and get as far away from the Temple as possible, unsure what's happening- whether the ground is structurally unsound, whether it'll fall over and crush them.

Much to their surprise, rather than falling, it rises up. Many of the parts shift and move around; stones fly around larger stones as if magnetically charged. One particularly large piece attracts five smaller ones, and another larger piece attracts five more. The more the stones move around, the more obvious it becomes what they are.

A humanoid shape.

The once-Temple now stands at a massive height, perhaps even higher than the Tailed Beasts. It roars, letting out green smoke around its body.

Great Beast: Sessho-seki.


	25. Chapter 25

**HIDDEN STONE SECRETS III**

The Sessho-seki slams its stone fists on the ground, shaking the entire plain they're in. Cracks spread on the ground, opening various pits- some big, some small, but the group manages to get back to a relatively safe distance.

"This chakra…" Naruto stands in front of the rest, ready to move out. "It's definitely a Great Beast, alright." His clothes become wreathed in orange flames.

"Naruto…" Hinata reaches out to him and holds his hand. "If what Lady Mito said is true, then that thing is…"

Naruto pensively looks at the Beast. "A person. Yeah." He squeezes Hinata's hand and turns to her, kissing her on the forehead. "But whoever it used to be has become a mindless, rampaging monster. We can't leave it as is."

He Flickers towards it and unleashes Kurama's form, which while impressive in its own right, is much smaller than the stone creature. Not that that's going to slow down Naruto even slightly.

The kids all stare in awe. Kotori has already seen this before, but it's still impressive. Yokumaru and Shoto's eyes are bulging out and their jaws are slacked from the sight.

"Let's go, Kurama!"

" _ **Yeah…"**_ The Fox doesn't sound as enthused as Naruto does.

That doesn't go unnoticed. Even though he's not the hothead of their combo, he's shown a great desire to beat down the Great Beasts to where they're from. Is it because of what they recently found out?

"Oi, you're not chickening out 'cause they used to be human, are you? Since when do you care?"

" _ **No one's chickening out!"**_ He roars. " _ **Focus on the enemy and just shut up."**_

"Someone's getting testy…"

He leaps high in the air to try and pounce on the creature, maybe even knock it down, but it holds its arm against its chest and swats Naruto to the ground. It goes for a punch, and that's when the Temple's name becomes clear. Even though its parts have shifted around to create its new humanoid form, the tunnel system remains relatively intact, and the massive swing causes air to go through, causing the howling wind to resemble a melody. A slow, almost calming melody that does not fit this being or its current intent.

On hearing the melody, Kurama freezes in shock. " _ **No… It can't be..."**_

-x-

A vision flashes before Kurama's eyes. He's stood behind a woman with long black hair in front of a creek, humming that same melody. It's slow and beautiful, calming yet somehow somber. She stops and giggles. "You're back." She begins turning around, her silky hair hiding most of her face.

-x-

Naruto tries to get away from the punch but he doesn't have full control over his body. Something's wrong with Kurama. Naruto takes the punch head on and the other arm comes right for him. He just barely managed to get his arms up to block the hit but it still feels like a mountain dropped on him. Mostly because a mountain DID drop on him. He skids back and falls on his back.

"And after telling _me_ to focus?!" He turns around in his mindscape to confront his roommate. "What was that about?"

" _ **It's nothing."**_ Kurama sinks his claws into the ground, scraping the floor.

"It's obviously something!" Naruto protests with increasing annoyance.

Kurama growls and shouts. " _ **If I told you it's nothing, then it's nothing!"**_

Both of them are jostled from their thoughts by the Sessho-seki ramming into them. It continues its vicious assault, with Naruto not fully able to defend. His movements are slower, his Nine Tails form weaker and less stable from whatever is going on in Kurama's mind.

The Sessho-seki opens its maw and releases a cloud of gas, spread over a vast area. When they come in contact with just a small portion of Kurama's form, Naruto feels the immense sting. This thing dissolves and it works quickly. He shifts back and brings his tails together. In a tested move, he swings them all at once to send the poisonous cloud away from him. There's not much vegetation in the area but what little of it there is, immediately wilts and dies.

Naruto looks back to where Hinata and the kids are. " _Can't let any of that stuff near them."_

He runs around the Sessho-seki and has its full attention, being the only current threat. What follows is a punching fest, each of them delivering heavy blow after heavy blow, although that proves a bit more of a challenge for Naruto, who often has to resort to hit-and-run tactics.

On the sidelines, Hinata is very clearly agitated. She grips her fist and turns to face the others. "Akatsuchi, please take care of the children."

"What, where are you going?"

"To Naruto." She says having already begun running to him. "He needs help."

The kids call out to her, but ultimately they know this is not a battle they can take part in and they can hardly have a say. This is the level that their mentors fight at.

" **Earth Style: Rock Clones"**

Two more Akatsuchis rise up from the ground and take a battle-ready position, prepared to guard the kids.

"Don't stray for me, got it?"

They nod in response as they watch Naruto desperately fight, and Hinata running toward him.

She has to stop at intervals to brace herself, as every step this massive behemoth takes causes the ground to shake but she does manage to read Naruto safely, and climb up Kurama's leg to reach her boyfriend at the front.

Being in both Kurama and Sage modes, he sensed her drawing closer long ago so her arrival is no surprise. "Hinata, what're you doing here?"

"Helping you. I said I'll stand by your side, and I meant it." She holds his hand and they stand shoulder to shoulder. Being inside Kurama's chakra cloak increases her power exponentially and makes it easier for her to do what she's about to do.

She closes her eyes and focuses her chakra. The process is much quicker and more fluid than it was before. When she opens her eyes, they're not the pale hue they usually are, but light blue with a white flower pattern.

" **Tenseigan!"**

Purple chakra flows from her, through Naruto, and into Kurama's form. His arms and legs, his head and back all gain a purple flame-like chakra emanating from them. Naruto can feel the surge of chakra and the form is now more stable than before.

Naruto grins. "Alright! Let's beat this thing together!"

Reinvigorated, they charge at it. It once again swings it fists, causing the melody to sound off again. Hinata molds the flame on Kurama's arm into a spear and sends it flying to the fist. The resulting clash causes a massive wave of chakra to burst forth and push back the fist.

The Tenseigan-empowered Kurama uses the momentary break in its assault to pounce right on his chest. He clings onto its chest with 3 legs, using the 4th one to gather chakra in his palm. Both Naruto and Hinata send their chakra through, to form a familiar technique they've worked on.

" **Sage Art Gentle Step: Massive Spiraling Lion Fist"**

The lion-cloaked Rasengan slams into its chest, chunks of rock breaking off and flying in every direction, dealing heavy damage to its torso. The open wound, however, releases a big burst of poisonous gas so they're forced to jump back again.

"Naruto, let's try it." She squeezes his hand and brings her hand back a bit, bending her elbow.

Naruto smiles. "Let's." Naruto follows her lead.

Kurama's form bends both arms at the elbow, mimicking Hinata's action. They gather chakra at their hands and thrust forward with impressive force.

" **Sage Art Gentle Fist: Vacuum Wall Palm"**

The resulting whirlwind covers an area much larger than even the Sessho-seki. The gas is blown away and even the Great Beast is sent back a short distance. Once the wind dies down, so does the gas.

Hinata remains ever watchful. "The gas stopped. That means it's not a continuous source, but an ability that recharges."

"Yeah. If we can just keep at it long enough, we might even damage wherever it's releasing the gas from."

They charge at it and continue their assault. The Great Beast, however, is not without its own abilities. By drawing earth and stone from the ground, it's able to replenish what was broken off. Naruto and Hinata double their efforts to rip into it, but the Beast is strong. Way stronger than the Kappa or Nue that Naruto faced before. This one is unsealed, not burdened by the Rashomon gates and it shows. Every punch resonates and sends shockwaves through the area, and every time it swings its arm, the wind passes through the tunnels, making it sound that melody again.

Naruto and Hinata seem to do fine, until one fateful punch goes their way. The Sessho-seki twists its arm to deliver a more powerful hit, changing the melody that passes through its tunnels.

-x-

Another flash from Kurama's memory. He remembers that same woman, humming that melody as several small birds fly around. They land on her shoulder, on her lap, on her hands. Two larger ones, clearly the parents, hover around them. She laughs with glee as the young ones take flight, some with more effort than the others, apparently they've only just learned how to. She turns around, her silky black hair swaying.

"See? I told you I'd become this forest's mother."

-x-

Kurama's chakra form breaks.

Naruto and Hinata are stranded mid-air with a massive fist heading their way.

Suddenly disconnecting from Kurama has reverted Hinata's Tenseigan back into a Byakugan, but Naruto is still in Sage Mode. They look to each other in a panic, racking their brains as to what comes next. With precious little time to spare, Naruto extends a hand to Hinata and swipes the air. His hand, infused with natural energy, sends Hinata flying away just as it hits Naruto and sends him flying into the ground.

"NARUTO!" She lets out a scream but there's not much she can do flying away.

The kids, seeing this, instinctively run to her but Akatsuchi's Rock Clones grab them.

"Mom!"

"No!"

"Let go!"

Akatsuchi himself slams his hands on the ground.

" **Earth Style: Towering Mud Pillar"**

The ground in front of him softens and bursts out to meet Hinata before she hits the ground. The impact still hurts but it would've been way worse. The pillar of mud becomes shorter and shorter until she comes at a much safer height, at which point she hops down to safety, holding her sides and hissing in pain.

"What happened up there?"

"I'm not certain. I could feel Kurama's chakra wavering as the fight progressed, but I don't know what happened."

"Dad! Where's Dad?" Kotori looks in a panic to where they saw Naruto's body fell.

Hinata looks around with her Byakugan. "He's fine. He's hurt, but he's fine." She then looks up at the monster that's regained its full form. "But what are we supposed to do about that…"

On the other side of the field, Naruto also hisses in pain, the area around covered by the dust he'd kicked up on impact.

"Sorry for calling you."

An older male voice croaks. "Honestly, what have you gotten yourself into now?"

An older female voice chimes in. "What's that Nine-Tails doing? Your body's broken all over."

"I'm not sure. He's not responding to my calls. Something up but he won't open."

Naruto emerges from the dust and smoke in Sage Mode, with Fukasaku and Shima on each shoulder.

"I'll be counting on you, Ma, Pa. My body can't really take another hit like that."

"You got it, Naruto, my boy." Fukasaku brings his hands together and begins weaving chakra. "I'll handle his injuries, you help him fight, Ma."

"Let's go, Naruto!" Shima calls out, and he runs towards it once again.

The Sessho-seki sees him approach and swings down. Naruto dodges to the side and jump, and when the arm comes low enough, both he and ShiMa lash out their tongues and latch on it and reel themselves closer.

Once on its arm, Shima puffs out her cheeks and releases smoke.

" **Sage Art Wind Style: Dust Cloud"**

Ducking into the cover, just as it swings with its other hand at him, as if swatting a fly. A total of five Narutos jump out in different directions, moving even higher up on its body.

Two of the Shadow Clones jump behind it, while the other three focus on getting more height. On reaching their positions, they gather swirling chakra in their palms with the help of Shima.

" **Sage Art Wind Style: Massive Rasenshuriken"** x5

The Clones aim their Rasenshuriken at its legs to knock it off balance, while the original and the other two Clones aim high to push it backward. It works… somewhat, but that poisonous gas covers the area once again. Naruto gets back and is soon encountered by an injured Hinata.

"Naruto! I found where the gas is coming from. It took a while because of the seal that was in place before, but it's severely weakened now." She points to a specific area in the beast's abdomen, or what would be its abdomen if it wasn't made of rock.

"Right, but it's a bit harder now that Kurama's gone completely silent for some reason. We need more muscle."

" _ **That's where we come in!"**_ A very familiar voice resonates through Naruto's mind.

He finds himself in the very core of his mindscape; the place shared by all Tailed Beasts. He stands in a circle, surrounded by a total of nine torii gates, each marked by a number. From the gate marked with a "4", a pool of lava inches its way closer to the centre, while from the gate marked with a "5", hot steam comes rushing forth.

Naruto grins. "Although it looks like we just got it."

Before Hinata could ask, she hears a thundering screech from a distance. She sees a large four-tailed ape pounding its chest and screaming at the top of his lungs. Son Goku leaps and comes rushing right for the Sessho-seki, spewing lava as he does. From the other side, Kokuo comes galloping through the field, boosted by his control over steam that allows him to propel himself forward.

The kids can only stare in awe as they see two more giant creatures join, and apparently to fight the big rock one.

Kokuo bashes head first and cracks the stony exterior, while Son Goku covers his entire body in lava and goes close contact, melting bits and pieces he touches.

The Sessho-seki roars and swings its arm, trying to get everyone that's now in its face. The tunnels continue to sound the different melodies as it does. It grabs onto Son Goku with its massive hand, despite being melted and throws him toward Kokuo, who uses his steam to propel himself to the side to dodge his brother.

"Kokuo!" Naruto calls out. "Try to crack its stomach! We gotta get the source of its poison."

"Right." The steed-like Tailed Beast neighs and runs in head first but his charge is halted. Sessho-seki grabs him by the horns and slams him into the ground, roaring.

All the time, with every movement, the melodies resonate because of the wind passing through it.

"Hold on…" For a bit, Naruto carefully watches the battle rage between the Sessho-seki and Son, Kokuo, and his Shadow Clones joining in along with Shima and Fukasaku's Clones.

"Did you figure something out, Naruto?" Hinata remains by his side, ready to assist him.

"Maybe. Son Goku! How fast can your lava harden?"

" _ **Pretty fast. What're you thinking?"**_ The large monkey responds both out loud and in his mind.

"You see those caves all over its body? Can you fill them up and block them?"

" _ **Can do."**_

He then turns to his girlfriend by side. "Hinata can you tell me which tunnels lead to dead ends? I can take care of those."

"Right." She focuses her Byakugan and directs him to exact such spots.

Son Goku and Naruto's Shadow Clones get into position.

" **Lava Style: Scorching Stream Rock"**

Son spews out multiple balls of lava, impacting the tunnels systems dotted all over the Sessho-seki's body. It tries to block some of them but many make an impact nonetheless. They melt down and fill up the caves, solidifying very quickly. Son had thrown lava at it before, but not specifically targeting the tunnels. It's already showing effect, slowing its movements a little bit.

Meanwhile, Naruto's Clones go to where Hinata told him where the spots he's looking for are. He, Shima, and Fukasaku weave chakra.

"Fan the flames for me."

Fukasaku lets out a smile. "Let's see how much you've learned, boy."

" **Sage Art: Bath of Boiling Oil"**

Naruto spits out a stream of oil, Fukasaku- fire that ignites it, and Shima- a gust of wind that makes the flames much hotter. The five of them each release a small sea of burning oil that fills up its body and burns it from the inside.

Naruto's hunch was right. Now that the tunnels are blocked and the wind can't pass through, its movements are slower than before. Its punches aren't as impactful. They'd still hurt if you get hit by them, but not as much as before.

Kokuo immediately uses the opportunity to kick with all his might, steam shooting from his knees to add an extra oomf. The creature's stomach cracks with each and every kick until nearly the entire torso is gone, revealing the source of the gas, which already begins spreading.

"Lend of some of your power, you two."

"We already are!" Fukasaku protests.

"Not you two. The other two."

" _ **You got it!"**_ Son is curious as ever as to what Naruto plans to do.

" _ **Sure."**_ Kokuo is a being of few words as usual.

The Shadow Clones return to Naruto and help him weave chakra, imbuing it with a foreign chakra.

" **Sage Art Lava Style: Massive Rasenshuriken"**

" **Sage Art Boil Style: Massive Rasenshuriken"**

Naruto shoots both of them through the air and targets the spot that Kokuo exposed. The S-rank jutsu breaks even more of the creature, but the result might be more than even he predicted. It does break, but what poisonous gas was still inside, is blown out. And heading right towards Akatsuchu and the kids.

Son Goku and Kokuo move aside so they're not melted away, but both Naruto and Hinata dart toward the kids, but the gas is moving faster than even they are. Akatsuchi created an earthen dome around them, but it begins melting away.

"Damnit!"

"Kotori, Yokumaru, Shoto!"

Seeing this, another memory flashes in Kurama's mind.

-x-

The same woman is sitting besides a creek, tending to a couple injured bear cubs. She seems to be sobbing but is trying to hide by having her back turned. She cleans the cubs' wounds, some bloody arrows thrown to the side.

"I won't let anything happen to them. So long as I'm alive, I won't let any harm befall these children. They must be protected."

-x-

" _ **GRAAAAAAAAHHHH"**_ Kurama roars out as his form appears around Naruto and Hinata. With their chakra now restored, they're able to reach Akatsuchi and the kids in time, before the gas can do anything to them. It all happens in the blink of an eye.

They all now find themselves inside Kurama's chakra form.

Her chakra restored, Hinata once again activates her Tenseigan and cloaks Kurama is purple flames.

"Woah!" Kotori looks around her surroundings, and the orange chakra that now covers them all. In a way, it feels like they should be suffocating but they don't seem to have any problems being in here.

" _ **Naruto, I'm sorry. I-"**_

"It's fine." Naruto cuts him off. "You said we could talk about it later, right? Let's finish the job we have in front of us."

" _ **Yeah. Let's."**_

Son Goku lands right next to him. " _ **Took you long enough. Where've you been, anyway? It's not like you have anywhere else to be."**_

" _ **Shut it, Son."**_

Kokuo lands at Kurama's other side. " _ **Don't talk, and act."**_ Without being prompted, he begins gathering chakra at his mouth. Dark, heavy chakra.

Son and Kurama join him, adding their own chakra to his and making it as gigantic as possible. The Sessho-seki has difficulty moving in its current solidified state.

" **Tailed Beast Bomb"**

They fire together and hit it directly in the chest. The explosion covers a wide area and leaves its mark on the surrounding mountains, but something of that power should've been enough to get it.

But it wasn't. Not entirely. The damn thing's still standing.

Son growls. " _ **What else are we supposed to throw at it."**_

Kurama looks somber at the rock creature, still clinging on and trying to heal itself by absorbing the ground. " _ **You were always stubborn in your own special way. Weren't you, Tamamo?"**_

Son and Kokuo raise a brow at Kurama's words, but they don't have enough time to question him before the Fox dashes to the Sessho-seki.

"Continuous Tailed Beast Bomb"

He rapid-fires a series of less powerful bombs, but the barrage is enough to keep it occupied. Kurama jumps up and fires a flaming purple spear directly at it. It strikes true and the chakra washes over it.

Kurama jumps onto its chest, knocking it down, and begins charging a point blank Beast Bomb. When the Sessho-seki tries to push Kurama away, Son and Kokuo intervene by keeping its arms down. Kurama digs his claws deep and before he finishes charging, the scene around Naruto changes.

-x-

He's in a white space, much like what he saw when he spoke to his mom and dad. Where before, he was in Kurama form, pinning down a rock creature, he's now in his own Chunin uniform, pinning down a beautiful woman.

She's dressed in an intricate white and silver robe, long black silky hair spread across the floor. Her red lips, contrasting her pale skin, form into a smile as her dark eyes meet his.

"Ah, um, uhh." Naruto's unsure where to start. He's holding her down by the shoulders and knows he should get off but at the same time, he can't.

"I'm glad." Her genuine smile makes him blush. "Kurama finally found his family."

"What? Who are you?"

-x-

" **Tailed Beast Bomb"**

Before he can receive an answer, Kurama fires the dense chakra directly into the Sessho-seki's chest, causing it to finally break apart. It does not regenerate any further.

Son sits down. " _ **That thing sure was something. Gyuki and Matatabi were right, we'll have to step up our game."**_

"Thanks for your help, you guys. You, too, Ma, Pa. I couldn't have done it without any of you."

Shima sighs. "You just can't keep out of trouble, can you?"

Naruto gives an embarrassed laugh. "Sorry…" He begins releasing his Kurama form, gently letting everyone down.

Fukasaku pats his student on the head. "If you're ever in a bind, call us, alright?"

"Of course." Naruto smiles and nods, as the two of them de-sumoon themselves and return to Mount Myoboku.

The kids stare at their surroundings and Yokumaru raises a hand as if in class. "Sensei, I have… a lot of questions."

Hinata smiles, and Naruto ruffles the boy's hair. "I know you do. We'll talk about everything when we get back, alright? We'll sit down and have a nice talk."

In his mindscape, Naruto pats Kurama on the paw. "And we'll talk when you're ready."

Akatsuchi sighs and falls on his butt. "I second the getting back part. I never would've thought any of this would happen on this mission. This is easily above an S-rank."

Naruto takes one long look at the stony remains, his mind thinking back on the woman in white he saw briefly. Somehow she knew Kurama's name. Was she the person who this creature used to be? Did she regain some form of sentience just before dying?

His emotions and thought running around unchecked, Naruto calms his mind by squatting down and bringing all the kids into a hug, pulling Hinata in, too.

Eventually, they all pack their things and go to return to the Hidden Stone to report what happened to the Tsuchikage. Son Goku and Kokuo also go their separate ways.

Kurama remains silent, and hopes that Naruto doesn't come speak to him right now. He grits his jagged teeth and slams a fist on the ground. _**"This was the only way, right? There was nothing else we could've done, right? You... truly were lost, weren't you, Tamamo?"**_ His mind wanders elsewhere. To the distant past.

* * *

_**Once upon a time…** _

A man is walking barefoot through a secluded forest. His dirtied feet step through fallen twigs and over jagged rocks but he doesn't seem to be bothered by it. The bottom of his grey robes are also somewhat dirty and torn, visibly not being kept in the best of shape. In contrast, his wild orange mane of hair is clean and shiny, and tied up in a ponytail. If it wasn't, it may just reach his feet.

He takes the time to stop and appreciate the sounds of the woodland beings around- the chirping of birds, the squeaking of squirrels, and the noticeable wails of a deer making her way directly toward him, where she stops right in front of him and bumps her head on his chest. He pats her on the neck with his clawed hand, nails long and sharpened to an unnatural degree, but the deer doesn't seem intimidated by it at all. She steps back and motions him to follow, which he does.

After a few minutes of walking, he hears humming. A very melodic, angelic humming that somehow puts his mind at ease. He wasn't even aware that his mind needed to be put at ease. It feels nostalgic even though he's never heard it before, and homely even though he doesn't really have a home.

When the deer leads him to the source of this voice, he finds himself standing in front of a small creek flowing through the woods, and the woman humming the song. He can only see her back, and even then, most of it is taken up by long flowing silky black hair. She's sitting on the muddy ground in her pure white robes, undoubtedly getting them much dirtier than she's probably even gotten them before. But the oddest thing is the young fawn lying on the ground next to her and an elk standing guard over them. The fawn has an injured leg that she's currently treating, washing away the blood with water from the creek, and wrapping it in long thick blades of grass.

The man approaches curiously, once she's done singing. "What are you doing?"

She doesn't turn around, choosing to focus on the fawn. "I'm tending to this young one, of course." Her voice is calm and serene.

He looks over the bite marks. "Why? The wolves were unable to get it this time, but they will eventually."

"Then it's lucky I was here to heal it."

"You've no reason to." His voice isn't mocking or condescending in any way, but he can't seem to comprehend why someone would do it.

"I saw an injured child, and I have the ability to heal it. That's all the reason I need."

"And in that way, you're depriving the wolf cubs of a meal. One child is starving because you saved a different one. You're not its mother, just leave it."

"Then I will become this forest's mother. Be it a fawn or a cub, I'll tend to their every need. Then there won't be any issues with me healing them."

The man scoffs. "That's a ridiculous sentiment."

"Perhaps." The tone of her voice shifts, becoming more somber. Even though he's yet to see her face, he can hear her smile drop. "But it's my own ridiculous sentiment. And no one can take that from me."

The man looks her over before drawing closer, along with the deer. "What's your name, weird one?"

It's then that she turns around and they meet for the first time.

She's the pinnacle of beauty, with her smooth, snow white skin and dark eyes. Her soft features are highlighted by her kind smile, which has now returned to her. She's graceful and attentive.

He, on the other hand, is the very definition of monstrous. His grey robes are loose and he's resting a clawed hand on his open robe rather than in the sleeve. His orange mained hair framed a face that would normally drive people away. Sharp fangs clearly visible every time his mouth is even slightly agape, whisker markings on each cheek, and vertically slit blood red eyes.

"Tamamo. And yours?"

He stares at her with his piercing red eyes for a few moments before responding. "Kurama."

* * *

Name meanings

Tamamo (タマモ, Tamamo) = named after Tamamo-no-Mae, a nine-tailed fox, who fuses herself with the Sessho-seki (Killing Stones) which release deadly gas.  wiki/Tamamo-no-Mae


	26. Chapter 26

**HIDDEN STONE SECRETS IV**

In a very familiar sight, Onoki is slumped over his desk, staring at a scroll. He's holding his head with both hands in disbelief.

"So you're telling me you were transported to the past, met Mito Uzumaki who told you about the Great Beasts, fought against Lord Mu…"

Naruto corrects him. "We didn't actually fight him ourselves, we more just avoided him."

Onoki continues as if Naruto hadn't just spoken. "... and THEN, it turns out the Temple of Stone's Song, which has been a place of great importance and reverence to the land, is actually one of these Great Beasts."

"Was." This time Hinata corrects him. "It was destroyed and any remnants of its chakra were gone, although we've no experience and no history with them, so we can't be certain it's dead for good."

Onoki nods. "Tailed Beasts reform after several years if they're ever killed. The same could be said of these creatures."

Naruto chimes in. "But Mito said the Great Beasts are people who mutated 'cause of Tailed Beast chakra. So maybe 'cause it's not their own chakra, they can't reform, and when they die, they die for good."

"An astute observation, my boy, and definitely a possibility. But the fact still remains we can't be certain. Either option is possible, so we can simply prepare for the worst and hope of the best. We'll keep watch over that Beast's remains."

They both nod.

"There's also something else that happened. Before it died, I… saw a woman. In a place that looked real similar to where jinchuriki and Tailed Beasts talk. I think it was the person that thing used to be, before she took in too much Tailed Beast chakra. So it might be possible to delve deeper into our minds and talk to each other, if they really were created that way."

Onoki scratches his chin. "I see. And did she say something? Anything that might help us?"

Naruto pauses for a moment. Throughout the entire battle, Kurama was acting weird but that one meeting pretty much confirmed what it was about. That woman from an age gone knew Kurama by name, and one big issue the fox had had with people is that they never cared whether they had names. Whoever that woman was, Kurama knew her well. The reason he knew how to activate the seals, and the reason he wasn't his usual self during the fight… But that's a story for another time.

"No. She just… said 'thank you' and disappeared before she could say anything."

"That's certainly unfortunate that we couldn't gain any more insight." Onoki leans back in his chair and grumbles, going over all the details in his head.

Hinata looks at him expectantly, if there's anything else he'd want to ask but when he doesn't, she speaks up instead. "Then we shall take out leave, if there's nothing else to discuss."

"Ah, well, there IS one thing." Onoki makes a gesture to a Hidden Stone ninja by his side, who takes out 2 small cases from a scroll and places them on the desk in front of Naruto and Hinata. "Your payment for the mission."

Naruto and Hinata both share a confused look at the need for cases. When Naruto opens one, his eyes bulge and he shuts it closed. "Uhh… you sure this is right?"

Onoki nods. "You uncovered the age-old secret of the Temple of Stone's Song, and while it's a shame it was destroyed, you prevented a powerful being from rampaging these lands. That's easily an S-rank mission. You've earned it." He offers them a smile.

"Thank you kindly, Lord Tsuchikage." Hinata bows again, and Naruto follows suit.

"For now, rest. We'll send someone to contact you for your next missions in a couple days' time."

* * *

Having returned home, the kids drop their bags and lie down on the ground, groaning.

Naruto throws his bag on the couch and hangs himself over the backrest. "Kids, pick up your bags."

"But you threw yours, too, Naruto-shisho." Shoto turns over on his back, staring at the ceiling.

"Do as I say, not as I do." Naruto's voice comes out muffled, having dropped face first on the sofa.

"That's not fair." Kotori protests, trying to get a look at her dad without actually moving. It's more difficult than she thought.

Hinata chuckles and picks up the bags off the floor. "Come now, there's more comfortable places to rest."

Yokumaru picks himself up and dusts his clothes off. "Is this what ninja missions usually are?"

"What we went through is more… unusual." Hinata helps Kotori and Shoto up, as well, straightening their clothes. "You wouldn't fight anything on that level for a while, but that doesn't mean they won't be dangerous. Kotori, you saw how we'd sometimes return from missions tired and beat up, right? There's a lot of sides to being a ninja; what you saw is merely… an oddity."

Naruto hops to his feet. "It's not like you'll even be fighting at first. Genin missions are more like chores and odd jobs around the village."

Kotori scowls. "That sounds boring."

"It is." Naruto ruffles her hair as he passes to grab their stuff off Hinata. "But it's work that needs doing." He kisses Hinata on the forehead, now holding all of their backpacks. "You and Kotori go take a bath, me and the boys will get dinner ready."

"It'll take a while to get the bath ready, I can help with the cooking."

"Bath's ready!" A voice calls out from the corridor. Everyone turns around to see a Naruto walk out, wave, and disappear in a puff of smoke.

Naruto smiles. "Bath's ready."

Hinata looks between where the Clone was, and Naruto. "Is that why you sent a Shadow Clone earlier?"

"Yep! Figured it'd do you good after everything so I decided to prepare it in advance."

Hinata blushes and pecks him on the lips. "Thanks."

Kotori giggles while Yokumaru and Shoto fake-gag. She lightly smacks on the shoulder.

"Alright, Kotori, let's go." The two girls head off while the boys go to the kitchen to get dinner ready.

Naruto is, admittedly, not the best cook. He spent most of his life on cup ramen and did fairly well for himself, although that's needed to change as of late. The time spent over at the Hidden Cloud allowed him to pick up on some of the skills he'd missed out on. He learned a bit from Hinata, Samui, Atsui, and even Kotori.

Yokumaru seems proficient, himself, which in hindsight makes sense. He'd had to care for his mom, given her condition, so he had to pick up a few skills. Shoto hasn't really needed to cook anything so it's a bit of a learning process for him.

Throughout the preparations, Yokumaru is a touch quiet while Naruto instructs Shoto on what to do and how to do it. He still does his tasks but his mind wanders occasionally to what the man in blue armour said, about them being untrained.

"Sensei." He's intently focused on chopping vegetables. "I'll practice twice as much. Three times as much. You won't regret taking me as your student."

Naruto smiles and pulls the boy into a hug. "Listen, I'm a big fan of pushing myself to get stronger and stronger, alright? But what're you training for?"

Yokumaru looks to him with furrowed brows. "Huh?"

"You know, your goal. I plan on becoming Hokage, leader of the Hidden Leaf Village. Shoto, what's yours?"

The boy answers without interrupting his assigned task of preparing the rice. "To make the Teshin clan known among shinobi again."

"See? He's got a clear goal to keep him on the road to get stronger. What about you?"

Yokumaru takes a moment to gather his thoughts while adding the chopped veggies to the dish. "Everything I've done was for mom. I guess, I wanna help her and make sure she lives a good life."

"There ya go. Then always keep that goal in mind, alright? Never forget that you're doing it for her. Wanting to get stronger just for the sake of getting stronger isn't gonna lead you anywhere good. Always keep your friends and family close to your heart. Don't let anyone else's words pull you away from that path."

Yokumaru nods and gives a bright smile. "Yes, sensei."

Shoto hands over the bowl of rice to Nartuo. "That guy sounded like a jerk, anyway. He tried to attack us."

Naruto chuckles. "Well, he's also a Hokage, you know. The Hidden Leaf's Second Hokage and was a pretty good one."

The three of them continue to cook until Hinata and Kotori make their way back, clean and refreshed.

"Your turn." Kotori taps out Shoto and Yokumaru, and now the boys go to take a bath.

After they bathe and return back to the apartment, Hinata and Kotori have finished the dinner they started and everything is ready. They all set the table together and sit down to eat, happily chatting away.

After the fact, they relax in the living room. Kotori managed to beat the boys to the armchair and is flaunting her victory by making herself right at home. Naruto looks around the kids playfully taunting each other, and Hinata by his side. Their eyes meet and without sharing a word, they both agree the kids should know. It might be a bit early for them, but they've shown to be well beyond their years, and they deserve to know so why not now.

Kotori's mocking of the boys is interrupted when Naruto stands up and sits on the ground between the sofa and the armchair. "Alright, everyone sit around in a circle."

"Aww." His daughter whines. "But I just won the armchair."

"And you can win it again, come on." He pats the ground next to him.

He takes Hinata and Kotori's hands as they sit by his sides, and they in turn take Shoto and Yokumaru's hands, forming a complete circle.

Naruto closes his eyes. "Explaining would… take a lotta time so I feel it's better to just show you. Just remember, you're safe, alright? Nothing and no one's gonna hurt you."

The kids share an uncertain and somewhat nervous look but ultimately nod. They trust their dad/teacher/mentor/person.

Naruto allows his chakra to flow through everyone, connected by their hands. For Hinata, it's a familiar feeling but for the kids, it's an entirely new sensation. Their breath escapes from a gasp as weightlessness comes over them, where Kotori can't help but be reminded of when she fell down the cliff to save Takai and Kitsui, except this time she can feel Naruto and Yokumaru holding onto her safely. The weightlessness lasts only a moment but it lingers for a bit more, even after they can feel themselves firmly sitting in… water? It's weird. It feels like water but at the same time, they're not getting wet.

All three of them open their eyes more or less simultaneously and are met with, for lack of a better term, a monstrous sight. A giant fox towers over them, nine orange tails swirling behind it. Its low grumble resonates through the unfamiliar dark yet somehow lit chamber, the growl echoing.

The kids gasp in surprise and jump to their feet, backtracking. Their freeze in place, hand slightly trembling.

"Guys, I told you you're safe, right?" Naruto stands up along with Hinata, still holding hands. "This is Kurama. He's my friend."

The fox sneers. " _ **This may have been worth it just for those reactions. I haven't gotten to see them in so long."**_

"Uhhh, sensei…"

Shoto finishes the sentence. "What's… that?"

"Isn't that… the thing you turn into?" Kotori's the first to really shake off the shock.

"Yep." Naruto nods. "Like I said, this is Kurama. I guess you could say he's my roommate since he lives inside me."

He's met with very puzzled looks.

Hinata squeezes his hand. "I think we should start from the beginning."

Naruto scratches his head. "Alright. This'll take a while. Kids, sit down. Kurama, look less menacing."

" _ **Can't."**_ Comes a brief reply.

"We'll figure something out." He approaches the kids, who've now significantly calmed down, and sits down with them. "See, Kurama's a Tailed Beast, one of nine. You guys already saw two of them- the Four-Tailed Son Goku and Five-Tailed Kokuo, and before that, Kotori, you saw another two over in the Hidden Cloud- the Two-Tailed Matatabi and the Eight-Tailed Gyuki."

Yokumaru stares up to Kurama. "Tailed Beast. Everyone keeps talking about them, and Great Beasts."

Naruto nods. "Yeah. That big rock creature was one of the Great Beasts, and we can't really beat them without Kurama and the rest. See, he's sealed in me and we share our power, and fight together." He looks up to the fox and smiles. "We're a team."

Kurama scoffs and looks away, acting disinterested.

"Is that why everyone treats you like a celebrity?" Kotori asks. "'Cause you have this power?"

"Yeah, more or less. I don't know if I'd have gotten to where I am without him."

Shoto solemnly looks down. "So we can't help?"

"Whatcha mean?" Naruto cocks his head.

"Since we don't have a… Tailed Beast on our side, we can't help fight against these other Beasts, right?"

Hinata leans down and caresses the boy on the head. "That's not true, at all. Everyone can help in their own ways. I don't have a Tailed Beast, either, but I was able to help Naruto against the stone creature."

"That's right. And I'm gonna need a whole lot more help. Hinata, Shima, Fukasaku. We won 'cause everyone was on my side. And I'll be relying on you guys, too, when you get bigger, alright?" Naruto flashes them a bright grin.

" _ **Tch. My power is not so weak that I need help from any random brat."**_

"We were having a moment here, Kurama!" Naruto reprimands his roommate.

When he turns around, he's met by much more relaxed, smiling faces.

"We won't let you down!" The three of them say in unison, pulling it off better than they would've if they'd practiced.

He smiles as Hinata clings to his arm, and brings everyone back to the living room of their temporary home.

The three kids stand up, each of them with a reinvigorated motivation.

"We won't let you down, dad."

"I know you won't."

With that, they head off to their room. Once they're out of earshot, Naruto leans on his girlfriend.

"You didn't tell them the most important part." She snuggles with him.

"Which one?"

"About how you were treated because you were a jinchuriki."

"That's a story for another day. That won't affect them in any way, and won't help them. Besides, it's in the past. I'm not gonna keep worrying about that."

"Whatever you decide." She kisses him on the temple.

* * *

Naruto and Hinata, as in the Hidden Cloud, are set to do missions for the next two and a half months. They make a deal just like before to not have both of them away from the village for too long, if at all possible. This does mean that one of them has to take the occasional Genin mission, but that has also been turned into part of the exchange program. As Chunin, they take command of Genin teams and work together with the less experienced ninja, sharing their own practices and tips.

The kids, on the other hand, don't have the Academy to keep them occupied as the school year has ended for summer break. They have to look out for other ways to keep themselves occupied, but they do manage to make friends with the local kids while playing outside. Some of them are Academy students, younger or older than them, so they still have someone to talk shop with.

The shinobi kids show off their talents and even make some of it into a game- Hide and Seek where they use the Transformation to turn into people and the others have to guess which one they are. That DOES mean that the civilian kids can never be the hiders so they don't play using ninjutsu that often, preferring to stick to games everyone can take part in.

-x-

_Transformation_

Hinata has taken Kotori, Yokumaru, and Shoto up to the rooftop of their apartment building, overlooking their neighbourhood. She points to the three adjacent streets, forming a U shape.

"Those are the streets you're allowed to hide in. You can enter buildings open to the public, but only with express permission from the store owners, alright? We don't want to inconvenience anyone with our practice. You've five minutes to prepare and find a suitable location and disguise. Any questions?"

Shoto speaks up. "How is it even possible to hide from you?"

"I won't be using any sensory abilities or my Byakugan. I'll just use my own eyes to discern how well you blend in." She looks between them to see if there are any more questions and when no one speaks up, she smiles. "Begin."

They all Flicker down, using the surrounding buildings as ledges, still being relatively inexperienced with the Body Flicker, they can't yet directly go to ground level like Hinata or Naruto.

She turns around to give them their freedom to move around and find a hiding spot. When the five minutes are up, she Flickers down and begins walking down the streets, keeping a very careful eye out for anyone and anything out of place.

She walks calm and steady, although not to the point of being suspicious and alarming the passersby. She walks past the three streets in order once, and on the return walk finds all 3 of them.

The first stop is a food stall. Inside are the stall tenders (obviously), 2 young women eating snacks at a table, an elderly shinobi in uniform at a different table, and a younger shinobi in the same uniform on the stools. She sits down by the younger man and pats him on the shoulder.

"Aww." The man whines and in a puff of smoke, is replaced by Shoto. "How'd you know?"

Everyone inside chuckles, being privy to why he was hiding.

She points to the older man. "You thought to blend in with the gentlemen but you made the mistake of using his uniform. It used to be standard issue shinobi gear decades ago and nobody wears it anymore, besides the retired old guard."

Shoto counters. "But what if it belonged to my grandpa or uncle, and I'm wearing it as a memento?"

"That's unlikely for a shinobi to do, as shinobi gear isn't something simple like a hat that is passed through the generations. One can certainly keep an older flak jacket as a memento, but flak jackets of today are made of sturdier material so older models are prohibited from being worn on duty; and off-duty, no one would wear them as a sign of respect."

He lowers his head. "I see. So flak jackets are more than just armour."

The old man sips his drink and says in a gruff voice. "No, they are not. Just as one would not dare wear the Tsuchikage's official garments. There are replicas that the young'uns wear when they play pretend, but their colours are different and it's very obviously a fake. We shinobi have our traditions and customs, and we follow them to the best of our hearts." He pats his armour. "This is a symbol of MY service to the village, not someone else's."

Shoto stands up and bows. "I apologize for the disrespect." Hinata bows, as well.

"There's no need. You didn't know something, and now you do." He gives a warm smile, his eyes twinkling. "You'll get her next time, kiddo."

Hinata places a hand around Shoto's shoulders and leads him out. "Now, I believe Yokumaru is closer."

He looks up to her. "You already found them?"

She only smiles in response.

The second stop is a plant shop. Unlike Ino's flower shop, this place offers a wider variety of flora for the home, and it's all potted plants. From simple decorative flowers on display on the front to small trees in the back.

"Pardon the intrusion." She excuses herself to the older woman manning the store and immediately goes to an ivy plant, next to a tree. She takes one of the vines and when she does, it becomes surrounded in a puff of smoke, and she's now standing there holding Yokumaru's hand.

"I was a good plant!" Probably the weirdest complaint he's ever given.

"You were, but you didn't belong here. That ivy is an invasive species that quickly latches onto nearby plants; they're not sold in stores like this for precisely that reason and if they were, they'd never be placed next to other plants."

Shoto looks around the room. "Why'd you even pick that one and not any of the plants actually in here?"

Yokumaru grumbles and looks down. "I dunno, it's just a plant that grew a lot back home. It's pretty."

The woman at the counter smiles. "You certainly know a lot about them."

Hinata turns to her and smiles. "Yes, I enjoy flower pressing and have studied a good deal about flora, both native to the Land of Fire and not."

"So I lost before we even started." Yokumaru rubs the back of his neck.

The older woman pats him on the head. "Next time."

The three of them excuse themselves and head out to find their final target.

The third stop is a young man feeding sparrows on the side of the road, throwing crumbs on the ground. Hinata approaches, which spooks some of them away, but she takes one specific sparrow in her hands and pets on the head. In a puff of smoke, it's replaced with Kotori, who Hinata continues to pet on the head.

The man throws another handful of breadcrumbs to attract back the ones that were spooked. "Well that didn't take long." He chuckles.

"How'd you know?"

"The feathers. You've studied a lot about condors and sparrows as part of your training, and you've done exceptionally well," Kotori's grin drops slightly when Hinata continues. "But you studied ones native to the Land of Lightning." She points to the birds nomming on bread. "The sparrows native to the Land of Earth are bigger and have different colouration. That's another aspect of your training we need to focus on."

Kotori nods. "Okay."

They excuse themselves to the man feeding the birds and go back home.

This game continues on for the coming months, eventually adding the rule to not use disguises that have already been used, to up the difficulty. Throughout the whole process, the kids actually become friends with the locals, with them even joining in on the game to aid the kids in hiding better and picking better Transformations.

Naruto is, admittedly, not as observant as Hinata and it takes him slightly longer to find them, but Hinata has keen eyes even outside of her Byakugan so that's to be expected.

They do switch it around a bit. Some days, two of the kids hide while the other seeks; other days Naruto or Hinata hide and the three of them have to find their teacher.

With each passing week, they kept getting better at blending into their surroundings and not alerting others to their presence, and it took Naruto and Hinata longer and longer to find them.

-x-

As it turns out, Toshikazu Miyoshi, the old man from the food stall, is a veteran who's been on missions with the Teshin clan before they left the Hidden Stone in disgrace so he had many stories to tell Shoto. The boy is able to gain some insight on how his clan fought back when they were shinobi, although it's been a while since Toshikazu has seen them so his recollection isn't entirely complete.

Toku Gushiken, the woman from the flora shop, has a very good friend who sells crystals and gems. Yokumaru has seen Kotori extensively study birds seeing as her abilities apparently correlate to her knowledge of what she's summoning. Maybe his abilities are the same? Hinata or Naruto, depending on who's leading the exercise for the day, take him to the store and, with permission, he inspects the various minerals and is given a few crash courses in composition, environment, cause of forming. The woman also takes a closer look at the crystal that Yokumaru himself creates to give him pointers, and as he expected, his use of the Crystal Style eventually became much more smooth and easy. As to not be rude, they also buy several gemstones and crystals from her, as a show of gratitude, although they're not entirely certain what to do with them. Gifts when they get back home, perhaps?

Shinzo Nanami, the man who fed the sparrows, is a veterinarian who also co-owns a pet store with his wife and younger brother, so he's been a good source of knowledge for Kotori, getting more details on how avians vary depending on where they're from. She's also given some good materials on an animal that's seen a lot in the Land of Earth- the ostrich. By the end, she becomes able to summon a very young ostrich after thorough study.

-x-

_Substitution_

This game is a more simple one with not a whole lot of rules.

Naruto and Hinata pick a log and the kids form a circle around it. First one has to substitute themselves with the log, then the second one has to substitute with the same log before it falls to the ground. If someone is unable to switch places with it in time before it hits the ground, they add 5 to any part of their endurance training- push-ups, sit-ups, squats, anything.

They do get the hang of it fairly early. It does take them a bit more time initially to form the hand signs and weave their chakra, and the log is dropped a few times by all of them, but by the end, they manage to do it swiftly and precisely. That is, until Naruto and Hinata start throwing projectiles at them. Small rubber balls that prove just enough to break their concentration and make them miss the timing, but acting under pressure, while being attacked by the enemy is something they definitely must get used to, in order to be shinobi.

-x-

_Clone_

This game is a fairly simple one, as well, and serves a double purpose.

One of them hides behind a large rock and they and a Clone come running out. They have to ensure that their Clone is a good enough replica of themselves and not give away who the real one is. The other aspect of the training is the ones who are trying to spot the fake from the real one. Observational skills are crucial to a ninja so they need to develop them in a similar vein to what they utilize in the Transformation training.

-x-

_Body Flicker_

The kids are sitting on the ground outside, in the empty training area they found before.

Naruto taps the tip of his boot on the ground, lightly hopping in one place. "Alright, pop quiz. What's the Body Flicker?"

Kotori raises her hand excitedly.

He chuckles. "We're not in class, Kotori, you don't need to raise your hand."

Kotori rubs the back of her head. "Uh, sorry." She clears her throat and recites what she learned from the Hidden Cloud's Academy. "The Body Flicker's a technique that allows the user to move at a nearly untraceable speed for a short period of time by infusing their chakra. The better one's chakra control is, the farther they can go."

"Exactly right; you sound like Iruka-sensei." He smiles at the textbook explanation she gave. "So you're gonna try and get better and better at using it. You've got until our mission here ends to get as far as possible using the Body Flicker."

Shoto looks around the empty field. As to not get in the way of anyone else who may want to use it, they've taken to using the very end of it since they don't really need a whole lot of space for this exercise. Naruto draws a straight line, parallel to the field and Flickers a fair distance away from it, drawing a new line.

"Alright, I think this is fair." He gauges the distance. "You have two and a half months to reach here."

"Wha- But, dad, that's really far!" Kotori stands at the line and looks at the marked area like she's looking at a bottomless void. "There's no way we can get that far!"

Shoto Flickers away and tries to get the distance, but he doesn't even get halfway. She misjudges how far he can actually go versus how far he wants to go and ends up landing on his butt. He grumbles. "It really is."

"Shouldn't we start a bit easier, sensei?" Yokumaru looks just as uncertain.

Naruto sighs and places a hand on his waist. "Oi, oi, come on. Didn't you guys say you were gonna train way harder? Is just this enough to give up on being a shinobi?"

"Ah…" They look down embarrassed.

"We'll do it!" Kotori declares and follows Shoto, Flicker as far as she can, which is only a few centimetres ahead of him.

Yokumaru breaths in and Flickers, as well, right next to Shoto.

Naruto approaches with a smile. "That line I drew is your end goal, to reach by the time our mission here ends. If you can reach it earlier, that's good, but you're not supposed to get there tomorrow or even a week from now. In the meantime, you'll have other goals to beat."

"What goals are we supposed to beat?"

Naruto grins at Shoto's set-up for the reveal. "Each other." He takes out a brown piece of chalk and marks where Shoto landed; a white piece of chalk to mark where Kotori landed; and a blue piece of chalk to mark where Yokumaru landed. He throws each marker to the respective child. "Use those to mark how far you get, see who can Flicker the farthest."

The three of them share a look and smirk. The game is on.

From then on, they compete to beat their own records, each others' records, and eventually the goal Naruto set. They mark their progress and even started marking the date they reached them. They also customized their starting points, giving themselves a square to start from and keeping to their own imaginary lanes. Shoto writes "Iron" in his box, Kotori- "Bird", and Yokumaru- "Strength".

For two months, with two weeks to spare, they make significant progress in their chakra control, and eventually they all manage to cross over the finish line. Kotori was first by about a week, followed shortly by Yokumaru, with Shoto being last.

* * *

By the end of their stay here, they've gotten really good at the E-Rank techniques. Hinata may even argue they're better than Academy kids their age, although she might be a bit biased.

Now, it's time for them to leave. Onoki, Kurotsuchi, and Akatsuchi are at the main gates to see them off. Onoki is, as usual, floating which the kids can't help but stare at. Naruto taps them on the head as a signal to stop it.

"You needn't have come out all this way, Lord Tsuchikage."

"Nonsense! I wanted to see you off, so I'm seeing you off. And also to thank you for your service, you've been a great help." He shakes hands with both of them, and floats down to shake hands with the kids. "And you be sure to grow to be great shinobi."

They give firm nods. "We will!"

Kurotsuchi places a hand on her hip. "So where you going next? You have the Hidden Sand and the Hidden Mist left, right?"

"Yes. The Hidden Sand IS much closer and would be the better choice time-wise, but…" She looks to Naruto, who returns the look and continues.

"But the Hidden Mist might have something on the Hidden Whirlpool about the Great Beasts."

Akatsuchi chimes in with his bellowing voice. "Although the Hidden Mist hasn't given us any updates, and they've been looking into it for a while now."

"Yeah, but it might be something like the Temple of Stone's Song where only we can find it. But… I think we should head to the Hidden Sand."

Hinata nods in agreement. "Then the Hidden Sand, it is."

With that, they give their final goodbyes and leave the Hidden Stone Village.

* * *

**Somewhere in the Land of Wind**

* * *

A large group of heavily armed bandits, easily two dozen, are moving through the sandy dunes of the Land of Wind, all wearing cloaks to keep them safe from environmental hazards. They climb to a higher vantage point and smirk once they see their target.

The Land of Wind is not what many would call green. Their major flora is located at the borders with other nations, very few plants actually growing in the centre of it. So these border green areas are vital for both the land and the Hidden Sand Village. For one, the village's signature Puppetry requires plenty of wood, and they either get it from places like this, or buy it from other lands.

The forest in front of them is crucial. If they can take control of it and the nearby villages, they can practically keep the land hostage.

As they begin to step forward to make their way to it, they're stopped by a gurgling sound. They turn around to see 3 of their men located in the back fallen to the ground, their chests pierced. A 4th stands up, clutching his chest, where a pink crystalline sword has pierced him.

The woman pulls out her blade, letting the body fall. She stands before all of them, now in plain sight. She's a young woman, in a green one-sleeved kimono with a white camellia on the side. Her light blue hair is tied in a large spiky ponytail, leaving two strands to frame her face. "You just couldn't keep quiet, could you?" She shakes her head. "No, that was my faulty aim."

They all draw their arms. "You bitch, who do you think you are?!"

Before they can even move to charge at her, their feet are stuck. Where they previously stood on solid ground, if a bit sandy, has now turned to mud. They're all stuck.

" **Earth Style: Swamp to the Underworld"**

"What?"

"Where'd this come from?!"

They all try to struggle free, to no avail.

A man appears from behind the trees. "Don't insult her." His deep rumbling voice matches his appearance, being a bulky man with fists like tree trunks themselves. He looks to the woman with the crystalline blade attached to her arm. "You shouldn't leave too much evidence behind."

She sighs. "I know, I know."

The bandits, currently knee-deep in mud, throw kunai and shuriken their way. The woman blocks with her crystal blade while the man's body simply turns to mud and absorbs the projectiles. Some begin to weave chakra but before they can finish, the woman has already finished her own jutsu. They all become covered in pink crystals, very quickly growing from small specks on their clothes, to encompassing their entire bodies.

" **Crystal Style: Crystal Pentagonal Prison"**

The bodies encased in crystals are slowly swallowed by the mud, which soon after disappears and leaves behind only wet soil.

The man approaches, visible worry on his face. "Are you alright?"

The woman begins picking up the weapons that were left behind. "Of course. You?"

He pats himself down as if he himself is not sure. "Yeah." He helps her pick up what they can. "We should hurry back home. We've been away for a while now. They might get suspicious."

She stands up, kunai and shuriken safely packed away in her pouch. "Then we can just say we were out on a romantic stroll." She leans down to kiss him on the forehead, making the burly man blush. "But you're right, we _are_ late."

Having scavenged the remains, they make their way toward the forest.

* * *

**Name meanings**

_Toshikazu Miyoshi, Toku Gushiken,_ and _Shinzo Nanami_ = first picks from a Random Japanese Name Generator. I have no idea what they mean.


	27. Hidden Sand Convergence I

**HIDDEN SAND CONVERGENCE I**

A sandstorm rages. A curtain of sand has been wailing for hours, making everything in 100 km radius absolutely unbearable. Sight is impaired to the point of non-existent; even if it weren't for the fact that countless grains of sand buffet your face, it'd still be impossible to see any farther than your nose. Hearing is strained with the gales making it difficult to focus on your own thoughts, let alone what someone besides you might be saying unless they shout in your ear. Even then, it might not work. The other senses aren't as affected although they're not happy, either- smell becomes unbearable when there's only dry sand to make it to your nose, taste… well, let's just say you don't want sand getting anywhere near that, and touch shouldn't be an issue as long as you prepare well for a journey through the desert.

Four figures are currently fighting their way through this nightmare. Two of them walking while the other two are sitting inside a large puppet, vaguely resembling a salamander. It has a large metallic shield strapped just behind its head that provides its riders cover from the sand, with the Puppet Master holding aloft several more metallic plates for additional protection.

Being well trained in navigating these lands, they've prepared to defend their last three senses, wearing protective cloaks, goggles, and facemasks. Sight and hearing are still an issue, but they can manage.

One of the people sitting inside the puppet is focusing on a pulsating seal- a hexagon within a circle, carved into its back. The white outline glows at set intervals but otherwise does nothing else. After keeping it active for a few seconds, he deactivates it.

They continue to walk further, or rather the salamander puppet walks them further, and several minutes later, the man activates the hexagonal seal again. This time, something does happen besides it glowing white. A red dot blinks at the very edge.

One of the other cloaked figures gathers their final ally along with the puppet master, who brings in all of the protective plates to form a tighter wall around them. They were specially built to withstand environments such as this, so they prove more than effective at keeping them safe from the hazards. Even the raging winds aren't as intrusive anymore, allowing them to actually hear each other.

The man with the hexagonal seal removes his facial protection to reveal his elongated face and sunken cheeks, making him look constantly sleep deprived. He sighs, exasperated, but glad to let his face breath for a moment. "Lord Kankuro, I have a sole signal."

Kankuro removes his mask. "Just one? Shishio, we're looking for 2 adults and 3 children."

The other two give themselves some breathing room, as well. The man's blonde hair still peeks down from his cowl, covering one eye. The woman has to tuck in her brown strands back in again.

"All due respect, sir," The woman speaks in an even and polite manner. "If Shishio believes it worth noting, then it's no ordinary signal."

Shishio nods. "It's like nothing I've ever seen before. I know it's none of the creatures that live in the desert, and it's definitely not human. I think it's worth inspecting."

Kankuro twists his tongue around the inside of his cheeks, mulling it over for a moment. "I'll trust your instincts. We'll check it out." he turns to the other man. "Koji, be ready to jump into combat if need be." and then to the woman. "Ameno, preserve your chakra. We know Naruto and the rest should've been around here somewhere when the sandstorm hit. We might need every bit of healing you have."

"Yes, sir." Koji and Ameno nod.

Everyone puts back on their goggles and masks, making their way in the direction Shishio's sensory ability detected the presence. It takes them about 20 more minutes of wading through sand that only gets piled on and lifted from the winds. At the end, they reach a large rock formation, multiple stone arches intertwining with each other, the largest ones would probably tower over the Hidden Sand's entrance gates.

Shishio has his sensing hexagon active and they're getting closer and closer to the signal. Koji gathers sand around hi fist, creating a gauntlet. Ameno gathers water from a ground in the salamander's back and gathers it around her hands, shaped like a scorpion's claws.

The signal leads them to the back of one of the larger arches which has a very secluded carved out section that completely blocks the sandstorm. And in the very back of this arch is…

A house?

It's front is beige in colour, with some purple and brown pipes to the side. Its blue tiled roof slumps down, even further down on the sides so it reaches even lower than the front door. As they cautiously get closer, they get a clearer view of the sign that hangs above the door. "Uzumaki residence".

Kankuro rips off his gear, "... What?" and scrunches his face.

They all hop off Salamander and get to the door. Kankuro knocks on the door, keeping Salamander at front while everyone sticks to the sides.

The door swings open and a blonde head peaks out, turning to Kankuro.

Naruto smiles widely. "Hey, Kankuro! Whatcha doin' all the way out here?" He motions them all to enter. "Get inside, weather out there's crazy."

-x-

Kankuro thanks Hinata as she places cups of tea at the table for all 4 of them. He looks around, still a bit in disbelief that this place exists. It looks like a perfectly ordinary living quarters. 4 beds at the back and a lounge area where they're currently seated. They're seated on a comfy sofa, with Naruto, Hinata, and the three kids he was informed of sitting on the sofa opposite of them.

"You know, I somehow both didn't expect this and am somehow not surprised. You never cease to amaze, do you?" He takes a sip of his tea.

"Believe it or not, we're actually inside one of my toad summons." He says nonchalantly.

Kankuro stops for a second, mid-drink, and shares a confused look with his team. He shakes his head. "You know, I'm not even gonna ask."

"What're you guys even doing here, anyway? Out on a mission?"

"We were actually sent out to look for you. The sandstorm surprised us all and we figured you should be somewhere in the middle of it by the time it started, so Gaara sent us out to get you. Although it looks like it wasn't necessary."

"I apologize for wasting your time worrying for us." she bows and turns to the slightly familiar faces. "If I recall, you three were in the joint Chunin exams 3 years ago, correct?"

"That's correct." The woman places a hand over her chest. "I'm Ameno, and these are Koji and Shishio." She motions to the handsome blonde and the man with the sunken face, respectively.

"A pleasure. I'm Hinata Hyuga, and these are Kotori, Yokumaru, and Shoto." Kotori and Yokumaru wave, while Shoto gives a respectful nod. It's difficult to bow while seated.

"And I'm-" Naruto gets interrupted by Koji.

"Naruto Uzumaki. Trust me, we know. Say, how about we have a friendly fight?" Koji smirks.

"Hah, you got it! Just say when." He readily agrees.

Ameno sighs and shakes her head. "There you go again, Koji. Can't you at least wait until we get back? Although it is true that we've heard a lot about you, Naruto Uzumaki. Not just from the stories but from Sakura Haruno, as well."

"Huh? You guys know Sakura?" Naruto looks between the three of them.

"We ran into each other during the previous joint Chunin Exam, and conversed at length about our villages, about medical ninjutsu, … about you." She gives a sly smile.

Naruto rubs the back of his head. "Probably not a lot of flattery, then."

Ameno giggles. "It wasn't all flattery like the stories following the Fourth War, but all of her stories came from a special place in her heart. You are special, but not for your victories during the War. If anything, I believe you're to be respected more for your shortcomings than your achievements. But I don't wish to prattle on."

Naruto is visibly embarrassed.

Kankuro settles back on the backrest of the sofa. "Well, you might have to prattle on, cause we better get comfy while we're waiting. So, what've you two been up to."

"You sure you wanna ask that? It's been a wild ride."

Kankuro looks outside the window at the sandstorm in the distance. "We got a while, by my calculations."

* * *

A sandstorm no longer rages. Although that doesn't necessarily mean the situation is better. They're still in the desert. It's still unbearably hot. At least they have the means to keep that at bay, especially with Ameno having water to keep everyone refreshed and healthy.

The Hidden Sand ninja looked on in surprise and confusion as the house they were in shrunk into a toad and disappeared into a puff of smoke.

On the way to the Hidden Sand, Kotori continues to practice her Aviary, summoning small ostriches. When she's skilled enough, it'll be big enough to ride! But for now, she has to settle for kind of waddling over it as it walks between her legs. It's a start.

The rest of the travel is admittedly boring and uneventful until they eventually find themselves in the Hidden Sand Village. The layout itself is actually somewhat similar to the Hidden Stone, buildings made of a sand-coloured material that blends in perfectly with the surroundings, although here they're more spherical and oblong in nature, whereas the Hidden Stone had more edges.

Surrounding it is a mountain that acts as a natural rampart wall, one pathway carved into it to act as an entrance. They make their way along the main road that leads directly to the Kazekage's office, where Kankuro and his group allow Naruto and his to enter and announce their arrival.

Before the door is closed, Gaara has already stood up and gone in front of the desk. "Naruto, it's good to see you again."

They exchange a firm handshake. Naruto taps Gaara's shoulder with his other hand. "Good to see you, too. Been what, almost a year?"

"Just about." He then turns to Hinata and gives a respectful nod. "A pleasure to see you as well, Hinata Hyuga."

He bows. "Lord Kazekage."

He begins making his way back to his desk, clearing away some scrolls and papers stacked on it. "Please, you may simply call me Gaara when it's only us. We are all friends here, after all." He smiles and takes a look at the kids stood behind them. "And I presume these are you proteges."

The kids bow to the Kazekage. There's an odd air to him that they can't exactly put their finger on. He seems stiff but at the same time trying to be loose, distant while trying to be close. Yokumaru in particular recognizes his demeanor all too well. Despite his young age, he's had to act in different ways to survive and care for his mother, and he's had to change his personality to match any given situation. The man in front of him is similar in that regard. He's not pretending to be someone else, per se, but he's definitely trying hard to change who he is.

"I'm Kotori Uzumaki!"

"I'm Yokumaru Kigatsu, sir."

"Shoto Teshin, at your disposal."

"You all certainly seem like a capable lot. And you've picked a mighty fine sensei to guide you." Gaara lightly curls his lips into a smile.

"Are you really friends with dad?" Kotori looks between the two of them. Everywhere they travel, she keeps hearing about the amazing things Naruto's done and somehow she keeps being surprised at how many people respect him.

"We are, indeed. Your… dad," He was about to say 'sensei', before he remembered she's technically his daughter, as well, and that seems to be their primary relationship. "Is the reason I am where I am today. Before he was ever the hero he is now."

Naruto rubs the back of his head in embarrassment. "It's nothing like that at all."

Hinata can't help but giggle seeing this. For someone who spent his entire childhood wanting to be a hero, he's oddly shy about it now that he actually is one. It's pretty cute in her opinion.

Gaara stands up once again. "I know you've only just arrived and are most likely tired, but I'd still like to invite you all to eat. It truly has been long and I'd like to catch up."

Hinata looks down to the kids. "The trek wasn't as grueling thanks to Kankuro. Would you like to come with us?" The kids nod in response.

"You sure 'bout that, Gaara? Can you leave the Office?" Naruto asks.

"I can. I've already finished with today's work, so I can spare some free time. Shall we?" He leads them out into the city proper.

* * *

Now seated in one of the fancier establishments in the Hidden Sand, as befits the Kazekage, Naruto, Hinata, and the kids are seated on one side, with Gaara and Kankuro seated opposite them.

The kids quite frankly didn't recognize Kankuro at first as he's currently without his makeup. They had to profusely apologise after wondering who he was, although Kankuro's pretty used to others being surprised by seeing his actual face.

For the most part of the dinner, they spoke of the happenings within the last year in the Hidden Sand and the other villages, of their missions in the Cloud and Stone, and eventually of the kids' training and their abilities.

Kankuro uses his chopsticks to point to Kotori. "If it's birds you're looking for, the Hidden Sand has the fastest falcons in these lands. You can learn a lot here."

She beams. "Can I?"

"I don't see why not, right, Gaara?" He turns to his younger brother.

Gaara nods. "Of course. You are all our esteemed guests. Accommodating you is the least we can do. It's only a shame we cannot do the same for Shoto and Yokumaru seeing as their gifts are more… unique."

"You don't gotta worry about it, Gaara. You're doing more than enough." Naruto waves dismissively. "At least with Yokumaru I do know someone who had the Crystal Style, but I can't even begin to wonder where to look for her. Doubt she'll be found unless she wants to be." He looks out into the horizon.

It's been nearly two years since he and his group ran into Guren. He knows ANBU has looked for her but apparently nothing's come up at that time. Eventually, Tsunade ordered them to stand down and cease the hunt for the former Hidden Sound ninja, to focus their efforts on other matters.

"I don't wish to sully the evening by talking about business, but…" He looks around the table, at the pleasant mood that had been created. It's rare that he really gets to have evenings like this one.

"We can hardly stop you from doing so, Lord Ka- Gaara." Hinata corrects herself.

"I did receive word from both Lord Raikage and Lord Tsuchikage about everything that happened and I believe there may be something pertinent. I can't speak with certainty, but I believe it may be worth investigating."

"Information on the Great Beasts?"

"Or perhaps related to them. Since time immemorial, the Land of Wind and the shinobi clans living in its territory have been in possession of a series of Prismic Keystones that hold… special properties."

Kankuro looks at his brother from the corner of his eyes. "Is this wise, Gaara?"

Gaara keeps his gaze focused on his guests. "This is no longer solely about the Hidden Sand's prosperity. The world may very well be at stake once more, we can't afford to keep secrets."

Kankuro sighs. "Very well."

Naruto looks between the two of them. "What's all this about?"

"These prisms I speak of contain a great number of seals that are, frankly speaking, undecipherable. Our sealing experts have been unable to come to an agreement as to their exact nature besides one detail- they enhance the land and allow it to prosper and bear fruit. It does not work on barren deserts, but the few green areas our Land possesses have yielded more crops and more trees as long as they're in the area."

Gaara puts all his bowls and utensils away as one would, having finished a meal. "It frankly never occurred to me it could be in any way related, but after seeing the Tsuchikage's report and the nature of the Temple and the seals within it… It's unmistakable. These Keystones' seals are similar to the Temple's."

Naruto leans forward on the table, propping himself with both hands. "Then we gotta check 'em out! If those things are also hiding away Great Beasts…"

Hinata remains calmer. "Whoever we face is attempting to free Great Beasts sealed away by the Rashomon, as evidenced by the Kappa and Nue. However, as evidenced by the Temple of Stone's Song, some are still outside the Gates albeit sealed away."

"Correct. These Prisms have been a blessing to our land but if they are to also be its destruction then we should act right away and prevent it from happening. However, the issue here lies in that the intended time of departure was tomorrow."

"So soon?"

Kankuro shrugs. "Well, we did expect you to arrive sooner but that sandstorm slowed down our schedule. There's a caravan set to depart tomorrow for one of the territories that has a Prism so we were hoping to have you two go out as guards."

"It would essentially be a double mission. Protect the caravan from the bandits that have been causing trouble in those areas, and also investigate the Prisms for any tampering. However, I will understand if you're unable to."

"I mean, we could go." Naruto looks to the kids by his side. "But I dunno if both of us can go and leave 'em in a new place alone so soon."

"Can't we go on the mission with you, shisho?" To put it bluntly, Shoto really wants to go on a mission. "I'm aware we're no shinobi, but there've been kids even younger than us who go out on missions! We can handle it."

"Yeah!" Kotori and Yokumaru chime in.

"It's not as simply as that." Hinata brushed Kotori's hair. "You've grown exponentially since we all met you but if bandits do attack, it will be dangerous."

Yokumaru stares down at his plate. "I think… we're not going to be really ready as shinobi until we really see for ourselves what it's like."

Gaara observes the group discussion. "I don't know whether this would help you, Naruto, but… the kids could come with you."

All three of them perk up.

"As I said, you'd be transporting the caravan which will be made up of civilians, apart from the Sand shinobi who are to accompany you, and a select few shinobi in training." Gaara sizes up the kids. "I suspect around their ages. They could join, and perhaps even assist with the cultivation if they're in need of entertainment."

They're not really sure if being put to work counts as entertainment but the thought of going still excites them.

Hinata looks between the kids and her boyfriend with whom they seem to come to a non-verbal agreement with. "If you believe the mission will not be hindered, then they could join as part of the caravan we're to protect, assuming there's space."

Gaara nods. "There is indeed. And it is as the young Teshin said- they are in a unique position to learn what kids their age cannot learn from the Academy. I advise using that to their advantage."

"You're right. I guess we shouldn't treat 'em as kids forever, huh? They're shinobi."

"Alright!" All three of them cheer.

While they've all finished their meals, they do still remain in the establishment for a while longer to chat about the lesser things in life, the aspects of their lives that don't try to kill them, as few of those as there are. Eventually they're escorted to the apartment they're to live in for the next two and a half months, as is the arrangement for this mission. Naruto and Hinata still have their own room, but this time Kotori has a room to herself while the boys share.

* * *

The following morning, the Hidden Leaf group meets with the caravan at the front gates. They all introduce themselves to the people they're to protect for the coming week or so. They all seem kind and welcoming folk, and quickly help the kids settle in for the ride.

They are also met by the two Hidden Sand ninja whose team they will be a part of.

The Jounin, and team leader, is dressed in the standard Sand attire complete with a turban on her head that lets the cloth fall down to under her chin to protect from the ravages of the land. She has two red markings that run across her cheeks and go down 90°, making them slightly resemble the Inuzuka markings. She also carries a fairly large scroll strapped to her back.

The Chunin is a younger woman also wearing the Hidden Sand flak jacket and clothes, although her version is sleeveless. She has sandy hair tied up into a bulky ponytail with two strands of hair falling to the sides, braided. Strapped to her waist are two white tessen, small war fans, with white fur on their tips.

The Jounin approaches them and shakes their hand. "I'm Maki, I'll be team leader for this escort."

"And I'm Sen." The Chunin waves to them as she comes nearer. She squints her eyes and gets a closer look at Hinata. "Haven't I seen you before?"

Hinata nods. "We didn't speak but we did see each other in the previous joint Chunin Exams."

"Ah, that's right! Who would've guessed we'd be working together after so long."

Naruto's beginning to feel left out. This is now the fourth person in two days that was at the Chunin Exams. Sure, he got promoted for his deeds during the war, but it still kinda stings he never actually got to be a part of the Exams fully.

Maki signals for the caravan to prepare for departure. "We'll have plenty of time to catch up on the way."

"Alrighty!" Sen goes to prepare her part of the caravan, while Naruto and Hinata ensure everything is in top condition on their end.

A bit away from the caravan members, Maki comes to talk to them in private. "Lord Gaara told me about the additional mission you two are on. I've no issues with it as we're going there, anyway; I just ask if you've got something to do that doesn't involve guarding the caravan or its members, talk to me first. Bandits have been getting more and more active lately and I need to know where my team is and what they're doing."

They both nod. "You can count on us."

Maki smiles and turns to the caravan, speaking loud enough to be heard by everyone. "Alright, people, let's move out!"

With that, the caravan begins moving out into the desert wastelands of the Land of Wind, their destination being the green lands on the borders the Land of Rivers.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIVIA
> 
> Ameno, Koji, Shishio; and Sen are from the 'In Naruto's Footsteps: The Friends' Paths' arc (Naruto Shippuden episodes 394 to 413)


	28. Chapter 28

**HIDDEN SAND CONVERGENCE II**

The caravan travels through the desert at a steady pace, keeping to their schedule and even being slightly ahead. Making use of his abilities, Maki had Naruto send out the occasional Shadow Clones to scout ahead and warn them of any trouble. The few roving bandits that they encountered were swiftly dealt with, often by Naruto's Shadow Clones alone which made the journey all the smoother.

As Naruto and Maki walk at the front of the caravan on opposite sides of a camel, Naruto turns his gaze to the distance, focusing on seemingly no point in particular.

"Another group of bandits are dealt with. My Clones are coming back with some more gear."

Maki gives a light chuckle. "I have to say, I think I underestimated exactly how useful your Shadow Clones are. Commander Kakashi was right, you're full of surprises."

"Huh?" Naruto turns to look at her over the camel. "You know Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yeah, I was part of the Sealing Corps assigned to the Third Division during the War. I worked closely with him to seal the reanimated."

"That's so cool! So Kakashi-sensei talked about me, huh?" His curiosity gets the better of him. "What kinda stuff did he say?"

Maki smirks. "Sure you wanna know his opinion of a rambunctious 12 year old?"

"Uhhh… maybe not." He hangs his head in dejection. On second thought, he wasn't exactly always a praiseworthy student.

She giggles. "Don't worry, it wasn't just embarrassing stories. He told us you're a man of virtue, moved to action by undying loyalty to your friends. That you can always be relied on when things get rough." He tries to hide his blush by scratching his cheeks. "Just don't tell him I told you, alright? It can be our little secret." She presses her finger against her lips in a shushing motion.

He laughs. "Yeah, sure. So you know about sealing? You know a lot about these Prisms Gaara mentioned?"

"That's precisely why I was chosen for the mission." The Sand Jounin rummages through her pouch and takes out a small booklet, waving it over the camel's back. "Lord Tsuchikage sent us everything you uncovered at the Temple of Stone's Song before it collapsed, and I'm to try and decipher their nature given our new information."

"Right. You gonna have time, though? We're still on guard duty, after all."

Maki nods. "We'll have enough free time to look into it."

Naruto remains quiet for a few moments more, his mind wandering to these Prisms and what Gaara told them. "Y'know, I'm not even sure what I wanna find about them. Gaara said they're important to the Land of Wind and help with its resources. If we somehow put an end to that and people can't benefit from them anymore…"

Maki sighs and steels her eyes forward. "You don't have to worry about that. We know more than anyone just how valuable these tools have been, but that's also why we can't afford to just leave them be if they're going to end up being a danger to us, or worse- a danger to the innocents who live near them. We have to act right away if we're to prevent a disaster."

He gives a light smile. "I guess I can't be feeling sorry if the people actually affected by this have resolved themselves. You're the Sealing expert here. Whatever you say, I'll follow your lead."

Maki leans forward to get a better look at him, a teasing grin on her face. "You've changed a lot from the stories Commander Kakashi told us."

Naruto grumbles.

-x-

Inside one of the camel-drawn carriages, the kids practice their chakra control in the absence of there actually being anything else to do. Kotori gets restless often and quickly. She does have other things to entertain herself with. She still has the Hoyouku clan scroll she got back in the Hidden Cloud, which practically lists most of the things she can use with her ability given time and training. She also has several books kept in storage scrolls about avians; knowledge she needs if she's to increase the strength of her Aviary and achieve her dream of riding an ostrich into battle.

She sighs and leans over the railing that separated the driver's seating from the back of the carriage.

"Is it so difficult to stay focused?" Shoto's closed eyes twitch in annoyance. This is the 9th sigh in 5 minutes.

"Yes!" She shouts, spooking the driver slightly. "Sorry." She mutters and sliders back inside. "Is this what missions are? A whole lotta walking and staring at nothing?"

"It's not nothing." They all turn to the back of the carriage, where Hinata is walking behind with her Byakugan activated. Somehow she looks to both be looking at them but also through them, her attention split between several places. She then deactivates her Byakugan, focusing solely on them. "As guards, we have to be on the lookout for anything that's even slightly suspicious. We must remain vigilant at all times and take note of inconsistencies, much like how we did while training your Transformation."

"Wouldn't they be visible in the desert?" Yokumaru has been creating smaller clusters of crystals in his hands, trying to get a better feel for his jutsu.

Sen chimes in from the other side, her farm half visible from the carriage's covering. "Not quite. If they're well trained, they can hide in plain sight, and if they caught word of valuable cargo being transported they can prepare in advance."

"How do you even hide out here?" Shoto looks around the vast emptiness. "When we trained in the Hidden Stone, we had a lot more to work with."

Sen looks to Hinata with a smile, the Leaf kunoichi seeming to understand what she's about to do. Sen takes out one of her tessen fans and spreads it open, waving it vertically in front of herself. Like a mirage, her body disappears and she's nowhere in sight.

"Huh?" They all perk up and look around, Shoto hanging from the end of the carriage looking everywhere.

"And that's one way to do it."

They whip their heads to where Sen's voice came from- the driver's seat- just in time to see the driver jump from his place, startled for a second time in only so long.

The middle aged man sighs heavily. "You lot'll be the death of me."

Sen gives an apologetic smile. "My apologies." She hops off and retakes her position near the back. "With the proper skillset, you can accomplish a lot but with the proper skillset, you can also fight back."

Hinata pats Shoto, who's still leaning over the edge, on the head to motion him to get back fully inside. "That's why it's important to keep training. If you can find creative ways to use your skills, you can be prepared for almost anything."

Yokumaru opens his palm and stares into it, sensing the chakra he's sensing through it. "What if we can't? If we can't think of something and we get in over our heads."

"I know you'll be able to. All three of you are bright and you've already fought through hardships and overcame obstacles. I believe in you fully." She gives a warm motherly smile.

* * *

On the first night of the journey, the caravan set up camp.

The carriages are placed next to each other in a semi-circle with a fire set up in front of them for them to eat and talk until the time comes for sleep to take them. The camels are tied to a large stone structure they'd found and set up camp besides.

The people of the Land of Wind are prepared for the desert's harshness. The covering of the carriages serve a double purpose besides keeping shade during the day. In reality, they're covered in sealing formulae that have fire stored inside them that when utilized correctly can allow the fire to be released in small increments, turning the cloth into a heater. Once the flaps are closed, you can hardly feel the freezing desert night.

Currently, everyone is gathered around the fire. At least the common folk are. The shinobi have been taking turns keeping watch, although having a sensor present has eased that task immensely, even having dozens of Shadow Clones scatter around to scout. It's probably one of the more relaxed missions Maki and Sen have been on; not being as stressed as usual.

Kotori, as usual, does not sit still. From the corner of her eye, she catches a glimpse of someone still sitting in one of the carriages, not taking part in the relaxed environment of conversations and eating. She spots a boy, seemingly not much older than herself, whittling a piece of wood with a small knife. Curiosity gets the better of her and she approaches, rising from her spot on the ground next to Naruto (or is it one of his Shadow Clones?) and Yokumaru and Shoto nearby share a look, knowing she's up to something to they follow her.

She makes her way to the carriage she saw and pokes her head up, giving a cheerful greeting. "Hello!"

The boy inside yelps in surprise, scuttling back a bit and raising a small wooden puppet in front of him- vaguely humanoid looking with a missing leg. To Kotori's surprise, the puppet actually begins moving on its own, its limbs and body attached to 10 strings of chakra originating from the boy's fingertips. It puts up its fists, ready for a fight.

"Woah! What's that and why can it move?"

"Kotori." Yokumaru taps her on the shoulder but she doesn't even turn around as he and Shoto join her.

"Don't just sneak up on people." The Teshin boy scolds her and peers inside. "I apologies for her."

"Well, don't! Check out the puppet, it's moving on its own!"

They all look inside to see the boy's startled expression now subsiding. He's sat on the flooring, hunched over as if trying to hide behind the much smaller puppet. A girl behind him rises, having been lying somewhere behind him until now.

Shoto sighs. "That's a puppet. Remember, Mr. Kankuro had one, too? That big lizard looking one.'

"Ohhh, yeah." Kotori taps her cheek with a finger.

"Um, hi?" The boy's meek voice is barely audible.

"Hi!" She quickly refocuses on her original target. "I'm Kotori. Who're you guys?"

"Uh." The boy nervously looks between them and the girl behind him. "I'm.."

The girl sighs and pats him on the head, causing the boy to grumble lightly, and gets up to her feet. "I'm Tayuri, this is Sangen. He doesn't do well with people."

"Shoto Teshin."

"Yokumaru."

Kotori hops up onto the back of the carriage and approaches. Tayuri stands in front of Sangen.

"Let's be friends!" Kotori extends a hand. "You guys are gonna be shinobi, right? We are, too."

"So we're gonna be rivals, not friends." Tayuri crosses her arms, which for most would signify that a handshake is off the table. Kotori is not most people and keeps her hand out.

"We can be both. Our villages are friends, although… we're not technically from the Hidden Leaf but we will be as soon as we go there. I don't even really know if we're shinobi right now. We're training for it but I dunno when you start getting to call yourself one, you know?"

Tayuri tilts her head. "You're weird."

"Thanks!" Kotori beams.

"That wasn't a…" The other girl tails off and sighs.

Sangen breaks the mildly awkward scene of Kotori still holding out her hand and lifts his marionette in the air to finally shake her hand.

Kotori returns the handshake and looks down to Sangen who's still sitting on the ground. "Does this little one have a name?" She leans down to be closer to eye level, causing him to scuttle back even more.

Tayuri stands between them, essentially making Kotori stare at her stomach.

"You don't know anything about boundaries, do you?"

"Back home, when someone was feeling down, we'd all pitch in to help. We were all there for each other."

"Yeah, well, you're not back home. I'm all he needs." Tayuri narrows her eyes.

Shoto steps up and places a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back. "That's enough, Kotori. If we're bothering them, then leave it."

"But… but…" She tries to give him puppy dog eyes but it has no effect.

"We're guests here." Yokumaru chimes in. "We shouldn't make a bad name for sensei."

Kotori pouts. "Fine. But we're gonna become friends soon, alright?" She hops out the carriage, waving to the two Sand kids.

"No, we're not!" Tayuri shouts back and turns to sit next to her friend. "So rude, that one. Right, Sangen?" She turns to look at him, noticing his gaze is turned to the outside, where the Leaf kids just left. A slight smile on his face, which causes Tayuri to frown in return. He doesn't always, so why is he smiling now, after that girl came in here being so pushy?

"Must be nice, to be that outgoing and make friends that easily." His voice is soft and quiet.

"That's now how you make friends." She hugs her knees and takes one final look at her puppeteering friend before burying her face in her knees. "Sangen, you dummy."

"Hm?" The boy can only watch her in confusion, unsure what he did wrong to be called a dummy.

-x-

Outside, the Leaf kids take a stroll, not far at all from the campsite and well within eyesight of their mentors.

Kotori sits down, puffing her cheeks. "So rude, that one. Right, guys?"

Yokumaru shares a glance with Shoto and sighs. "Do you have to be in everyone's face like that?"

Shoto nods in agreement. "Yeah, you don't have to be friends with everyone, you know."

"Sure I do! Why wouldn't I? There's nothing wrong with wanting to make friends of your own. I've wanted to become a ninja for so long and now I am and I wanna make the best of it. But I still miss everyone in the orphanage. Miss Shina, Takeo, Aki, Yumeji, Rintaro, Kazu, everyone… It still feels kinda empty without them." She hugs her legs, bringing her knees up to her chest.

Yokumaru sits down with her. "I know it's not the same, but you have us, right? I didn't really have a lot of family or friends, and looks like Shoto didn't, either."

The Teshin boy huffs and looks away. "I have plenty of family, I'll have you know. We just… didn't agree on anything."

"I know we're not as hyper as you, but I really love being with everyone as we are now." He gives a bright smile.

Kotori's lips curl up into a smile of her own and she ruffles Yokumaru's hair. "That's really sweet. Thanks."

"And I'm sure Shoto feels the same, right?" He turns his head to look up to his teammate.

"Well, it's not… terrible being like this." He fully turns his back to them.

Kotori chuckles and hops to her feet, gently holding onto Yokumaru's shoulder, and pats Shoto on the back. "So you _do_ like us."

Shoto simply Flickers away.

"Hey, get back here! Don't run away from our love!" Kotori follows him.

Yokumaru chuckles and Flickers after them.

* * *

The journey proved largely uneventful. Some bandits did manage to slip by their sensory abilities but were dealt with before they could even reach the caravan. Maki showed great proficiency with her Binding Cloth, locking dozens of them in place with the scrolls on her back and preventing them from moving or really doing much of anything.

Likewise, Sen's genjutsu rendered many of them incapable of fighting, leaving them open for attacks. She carries around several vials of varying scents that she spreads through the air with her tessen, the scents being an activator for her stronger abilities.

So with them specializing mostly in support, although quite capable of offense themselves, that left Naruto and Hinata to take them down, or at least deal with the ones that weren't incapacitated.

One thing that remained constant was Kotori's insistence on bonding with Tayuri and Sangen. The boy seemed overly shy and not very talkative, while Tayuri more than made up for it by keeping Kotori at bay and being very insistent on not being friends.

After several days of traveling with minor combat, the caravan has made it to the settlement. As Gaara said, it's one of the few but precious green territories in the Land of Wind, and where one of these Prisms is located that they're allowed to examine in their free time, as the mission is not quite over yet.

The folk they escorted are loggers, tasked with collecting wood that's to then be transported back to the Hidden Sand from where it'll be distributed as necessary, although much of it will go to the puppet users for the creation of new puppets. With them being such a valuable commodity, that means bandit attacks trying to steal it or take over the settlements. Usually the shinobi stationed there are enough but there's been a recent surge in activity, necessitating more shinobi to be deployed.

Maki ensures that everyone from the caravan is set and has their possessions intact, and leads them to where they'll be staying while they work the woods. Once everyone has been directed to where they need to be, she turns to her team for the mission.

"Alright, I'll check in with our allies already on the scene and we can work out where our team fits in."

Naruto squints his eyes and tilts his head. "Wait, there's already shinobi here? Then what're we for?"

"As back-up." Maki answers. "The Prisms and these lands are invaluable to the Land of Wind and the Hidden Sand so we always have people stationed here for protection, but the bandits have been getting bolder lately and more numerous."

Sen places her hands behind her back, gently swaying back and forth of her heels. "As well as the inclusion of more loggers this year as we've a growing need for lumber. That also increases the area that we're to cover and protect."

"That's correct. We'll need to cover a wider area than usual for the duration of this mission."

"Right." Naruto nods. "And because of my and Hinata's abilities, Gaara didn't really need to send more teams."

"Correct, as well. Your Shadow Clones are worth their weight in gold when it comes to missions like this, and there's a reason the Byakugan has been so coveted by other nations for so long."

Hinata gives an affirmative nod. "I'll do everything in my power."

"For now, rest up. It's been a long journey in the heat. I'll come back to you once I have a schedule, although chances are either of you two," she points to Naruto and Hinata. "Will be out on guard duty at any given time.

For the rest of the day, the group that arrived that day was allowed to collect themselves, with the real work starting the following day. The shinobi have their own dedicated lodgings, serving as a makeshift guard barracks. In order to keep them together, Kotori, Shoto, and Yokumaru are to sleep in the common lodging, as well, along with all the other shinobi. It might not be the most ideal situation for them but it does give them a taste of the way ninja operate while away from home.

* * *

The next day, Hinata is stationed to guard the settlement while Naruto heads to the forest to keep the loggers safe from potential attacks.

Once he reaches the actual area where the trees are harvested, he's met by a very unique sight. Where he expected a simple forest like what he'd seen plenty of times in the Land of Fire, here things are a touch different. From the ground grow thick trees as normal, many reaching several metres in diameter and dozens of metres in height, they're not as tall as normal. They have branches, they have leaves, but the most unique feature are the thin and extremely tall trees that seem to be growing from the shorter trees. Each small tree appears to have dozens of tall ones growing from its crowns reaching high up into the heavens.

Naruto looks at this sight with very obvious bewilderment. "Are those… trees growing on trees?"

Sen makes her way up to him and looks at the splendid sight. "Yep. It's a special foresting method we developed long ago, to make the most use of our limited forests.."

"So, which part are they gonna be cutting down?"

"Top part. A special pruning method is used to make sure they grow the way they do for when it comes time to be cut down. After that, they regrow and are cut down every dozen or so years."

"Right." He doesn't really get most of it but it definitely sounds impressive. "So this somehow makes these forests last longer and gives you more wood?"

"They do, yeah. Our ancestors had to experiment with such methods to keep the population fed. But we're not here to admire the forest, best get to our stations."

"Right."

Naruto and Sen double check their radios, make sure their signal flares are in place just in case something happens to the radios and they each head out to their respective corners. As agreed upon, Naruto himself remains somewhere in the middle. He finds a solitary spot where he won't be disturbed and meditates for several moments, absorbing the natural energy, which seems to be plentiful in this area. It's nowhere near as potent as Mount Myoboku but it's also stronger than anywhere else he's been. Once he enters Sage Mode, he sends out 4 Shadow Clones, the limit to what he can conjure while still maintaining his chakra in balance. The plan is for him to stay here and observe the surrounding area with his Sage Mode, while his Shadow Clones reach the edges of his sensory area and extend it all the farther. All 4 of them sit down to meditate once they reach far enough, ensuring that their Sage Mode doesn't run out.

There's one thing in particular that bothers him. Two chakra signatures mixed in with the villagers. They weren't present in the caravan so they're definitely people who were already here. But why are shinobi harvesting the wood instead of being on patrol? He was led to believe everyone who lives here is a civilian. Then again, who is he to judge? If someone has retired and chosen to spend their days living out here, they're more than free to.

This first day proves to be very uneventful, at least for the shinobi. The loggers are doing well. Everyone is packing their items while some of the Hidden Sand shinobi go around where the trees have been cut, large scrolls slung over their shoulders. They place them down directly in front of the trunks, perform the required signs, and everything disappears in the blink of an eye. Storage scrolls sure do come in handy.

Naruto leaves the sealing specialists to gather all the trees while he makes his way to where the main group is gathering. As he gets closer, he hears a very specific melody. A grass whistle. The melody is slow, almost somber but also nostalgic. In a certain way it makes him think of home. Home.

' _Home is where someone's thinking of you, right?"_

His eyes widen, remembering the song. He knows exactly what it is. He could be mistaken. Anybody could have learned this melody from somewhere, or even come up with it on their own. It's entirely possible, but if he's right…

He rushes forward to the meeting spot, the grass whistle getting louder and louder. He bursts from the trees and looks to the source.

A young lad, around his age, is sitting on the ground, a bit away from the main group who are listening to his playing. His hair is shorter than Naruto expected, reaching only his shoulders, but is the dirty blonde he had in mind. His eyes are an unmistakable purple.

Naruto cautiously approaches the boy, still not entirely sure if he has the right person as much as it looks like him. "Yukimaru?" He calls out to grab his attention.

The boy stops playing and looks at Naruto, smiling brightly. "You're here! I knew if I thought enough about you, we'd meet again. That's because… this place is now your home, too."

Two figures emerge from behind the boy. A tall, slender man with messy brown hair and a woman with straight light blue hair. Both of them stop and stare at Naruto as if they've seen a ghost.

Naruto furrows his brows and takes a single step forward. "Guren? Gozu?"

* * *

**Name meanings**

Tayuri (タユリ, Tayuri) = from 'tayū' meaning 'singer' or 'chanter'.

Sangen (三絃, Sangen) = 'three strings', also another name for the shamisen.

(A tayū singer accompanied by a shamisen are the elements to perform a jōruri, traditional Japanese narrative music)

**Trivia**

Guren, Gozu, and Yukimaru are from the **Three-Tails' Appearance** arc ( _Naruto Shippuden episodes 89 to112_ )


	29. Chapter 29

**HIDDEN SAND CONVERGENCE III**

Guren very carefully and diligently checks out her windows that nobody followed them or saw them enter her house and closes every single window there is, in a hurry. She then turns her attention to her unexpected guest- a person she hadn't seen in maybe 2 years and thought she'd never see again. Naruto looks just as confused as she is, while Yukimaru is ecstatic that they all found each other again.

"Alright, what're you doing here?" She gets straight to the point.

"Me? I'm on a mission, what're YOU doing here?" Naruto points to her and Gozu.

The man's unique control of Earth Style allowed him to shift his body's density at will. When they saw each other in the forest, he was lean and slim but now in the safe confines of their home, she changed to his more neutral bulky form.

"Hiding." Gozu's low voice resonates through the room. "We have no other choice, do we?"

"Well, I mean, I guess."

Gure takes a seat besides Gozu. "We moved a lot to escape your ANBU before they seemed to give up the chase. We found this place a few months ago and stuck around." She gives Naruto a very pointed look.

Yukimaru smiles widely. "The people here and very nice and friendly. They've really given us a home here."

"I'm glad you're safe here. But how are you hiding from the shinobi? If I could sense your chakra, any sensor might figure out who you are."

Guren and Gozu both get a look of confusion. "What do you mean you could sense us?"

Guren lifts up her sleeve to reveal a sealing formula high on her arm, taking up her entire biceps. "We have this seal on us that hides our chakra signatures. It's how we finally got rid of ANBU and got into hiding. No one should be able to sense us, so how did you?"

"I… don't know? Maybe 'cause I used Sage Mode?" Naruto guesses.

"Sage Mode? What's that?"

"It's kinda like... drawing a different kind of chakra from your environment. Helps me sense people's chakra and whole lotta other cool stuff."

Guren's beginning to look nervous. "I went through Orochimaru's notes. This was supposed to be a super powerful seal that won't be sensed, but if there's something that can, we're not as safe as we thought."

Naruto waves his hand dismissively. "I wouldn't worry about that. Far as I know, sage chakra isn't something that just anyone can get, ya know. It's a real difficult skill that takes a difficult kind of practice, so you probably won't run into anyone else who can use it."

"Huh. Well, aren't you special. You're definitely not the brat we fought all that time ago."

He smirks. "Yeah, you'd be in for a lot of trouble if we fought now."

Gozu's stoic face doesn't show much emotion as he speaks. "Word has reached even here. The Nine Tails' jinchuriki. The hero of the war."

"You've really become someone great." Yukimaru smiles. "So many people talking about you and keeping you in their thoughts."

"Yeah, it almost feels like any place I go to is home, huh?"

The boy tugs on Naruto's sleeve, excitedly. "Hey, hey, so what happened after we split up? What've you been up to?"

"Uh, that's a kinda long story to share, but the gist is this…"

Naruto goes on to explain what he went through after their meeting. He tells them of his training with the toads, the Akatsuki's attack on the Hidden Leaf, his training to master the Nine Tails' chakra, the Fourth War and the absolute rollercoaster that was, about his current mission and all the things he's done so far. In return, Guren and Gozu share their own experiences and where they've been until settling here. Naruto also tells her about Sasuke and the way he changed over time.

Guren lowers her gaze on hearing his story. "I see. I'll be honest, I held a lot of resentment for him, and maybe a hint of fear. It's hard to believe the guy from back then turned over a new leaf."

"Yeah, it took a lotta work, but he's back where he belongs. Well, kinda. He's out travelling the world so I dunno what he's actually up to."

"But you're doing the same, aren't you?" Guren leans on the table, propping her chin with her closed hand.

"Well, it's different. I'm on an official mission for the Hidden Leaf and taking care of apprentices- Wait. Yokumaru!" Naruto nearly jumps out of his seat. "Yokumaru!" He repeats the name as if it's supposed to mean anything.

"Am… I supposed to know who that is?"

"One of the kids Hinata and I took in. He can use the Crystal Style! Not a lot of it, but he can."

Guren has a completely blank expression, processing the information. "Wha… How's that possible? I've never heard of anyone with the Crystal Style, even after going through Orochimaru's file on me. Are you sure it's the Crystal Style and not something that… I dunno, looks like it?"

"Then he ain't as smart as he made everyone think he is. And I'm sure. It's a different colour from yours but it's definitely the same ability. We haven't really been able to help him develop his abilities much since no one knows anything about your jutsu. But if you're here, then you can give him some pointers."

Guren is hesitant. "I don't know, kid. I'm not exactly teacher material. And besides, I'm in hiding, I can't just go around using my chakra freely."

"I think you're a really good teacher, Guren." Yukimaru is merrily swaying back and forth.

"This is also someone possessing a very rare ability." Gozu encourages. "It may be someone who shares an ancestry with you."

"Then that'd make him family, right?" Yukimaru beams.

"You don't have to if you're not sure," Naruto reassures her, "But I thought you'd at least wanna know. I've thought about if there was any way for us to find you and ask but I never actually thought it'd happen." He laughs. "But I really should be heading back. Been away too long already."

Guren runs her hand through her hair. "Look, bring the kid here tomorrow. At the very least I can meet him, right?"

Naruto grins. "Sure thing!"

* * *

When Naruto gets back to the barracks following his surprise meeting with Guren, he's immediately met by Maki, still fully geared. She walks over to him before he can even set foot inside, followed very shortly by Hinata who exits the building and joins them.

"There you are, been waiting forever. Where were you?" Before he can even muster something, she continues talking. "Actually, doesn't matter. We still have time to look into the Prism." She waves the journal around a bit, containing everything the Tsuchikage had sent over about the Temple of Stone's Song.

"Right, yeah." Even though that was a big reason they came here, he kind of forgot all about it after what happened earlier. "I think I sensed its presence earlier while I was in Sage Mode. This place is definitely being enriched by natural energy."

Hinata nods as the three of them begin walking, with Maki leading the way. "I also saw a great amount of chakra being fed into the entire area, and saw the Prism Keystone. I've been trying to study its chakra but it's so diluted, it feels alien."

"Natural energy?" Maki inquires, slightly turning her head to look at Naruto behind her. "What's that?"

"Oh, it's like the chakra of the planet, I guess? Y'know how our chakra's a mix of physical and spiritual energy?"

"Of course." She listens carefully. "So there's another kind of energy that exists out there?"

"Yep. Spiritual and physical exists in people, but natural energy exists in basically everything else. Most animals and plants have nature energy just like how we have chakra."

"Huh. So, you're saying that cactus over there has natural energy running through it?" Naruto nods in confirmation. "And that lizard over there?" She points to a frill-neck lizard relaxing on a stone not too far away from there. Naruto once again nods. "So even a small little thing like that has chakra?"

"Well, it's not exactly chakra. It's more like lifeforce, y'know? They're more in tune with nature so they just kinda absorb a little bit of it without knowing."

"Similar to how not every person is able to train their chakra to perform ninjutsu." Hinata adds. "Even though everyone has a chakra pathway."

"Right. And you two can sense all this?"

"Well, I can."

Hinata shakes her head. "Natural energy is a special force that not even the Byakugan can see it, although I believe I may have a way of doing so. I just can't do it for very long, so I waited for an opportune time."

"Right. So if you can't see this natural energy, how were you able to see the chakra running from it?"

"I'm not entirely certain myself, but perhaps that's why it felt so alien- because I wasn't seeing the full picture. I may get a clearer image of it once we get close to the source."

Maki can't help but give a light laugh, shaking her head. "Man, you two sure are something. Guess this is exactly why the Five Great Villages were pushing for this exchange. We'd still know nothing about the Prisms without people with your abilities."

"Precisely. We each possess unique talents that can be of use to the other, but so far we've only used them to gain the upper hand on each other."

"But that's gonna change from now on!" Naruto pumps his fist. "We're already seeing all the good that comes from the alliance, so we just gotta keep at it."

Maki smiles. "I agree. Let's just hope it can survive the passage of time."

A short walk later, they finally arrive in the centre of the greenery of the area- where the source of nurturing energy is emanating from. The Prism Keystone. A large jet black hexagonal structure, pointed at the top, stands before them, towering at about 5 metres/16 feet in height It vividly shines as it reflects the last bit of sunshine before sunset, giving it a blue and purple hue. It looks almost crystalline in nature although that's not exactly right, either. It's definitely not something either of them have seen before. Dotted all around, in contrasting red, are markings akin to sealing formulae that cover all six of its sides and even extend to the top, where the very tip of the structure is entirely red.

Hinata activates her Byakugan just in case. "So this is the mysterious Keystone up close."

"That's right. One of four that have led to the prosperity of the Land of Wind."

"And potentially hiding some kind of threat to it." Naruto carefully examines it himself. Not really knowing about seals, he sits down in a meditative state so he can examine the thing he's more familiar with.

"So," Maki takes out her notes and begins flipping through them. "As a preliminary note, since you two were actually there, can you confirm this is a similar style to the Temple in Land of Earth?"

Naruto remains motionless, still absorbing natural energy, while Hinata answers instead. "I'm positive. We didn't have time to note down everything but from what I managed to record on-site and then from memory, it's unmistakable the same style." She carefully looks over the red etchings and then turns to the book, using her Byakugan to see through the pages. She reaches over and flips to a particular page, pointing at the writings in it and then to the Keystone. "It's an exact match."

By this point, Naruto has finished gathering natural energy. Back in the forest, he gathered faster than he normally does and here, he gathered even faster than the forest. This place is definitely potent but still not to the extent of Mount Myoboku. Now that he's in Sage Mode, he can get a better look at it and the natural energy, while plentiful, is being held back, which makes sense in a way since that's usually what seals do. There's another feeling nagging him at the back of his head, something very quiet and very muffled. Something distant. He furrows a brow and tries to listen in, looking around for a source.

Maki examines the writing very carefully, still oblivious to Naruto's actions, tracing a finger across the Keystone. "You're right. I've never seen anything like this. We've had different sealing formulae over the years that are vastly different from one another but they still have common elements and you can see the progression. This… has nothing in common with what we know, even dating back to the founding of the villages."

"Lord Kazekage mentioned there are 4 four in total. Are they all like this one?"

"Yes, all of them are the exact same shape and have the exact same markings in the exact same order in the exact same places. They're practically copies of each other."

"If we manage to find anything here, it may be wise to look into the others, as well." Hinata confirms with Maki before bringing her attention to her boyfriend who seems to be pressing his ear against the Keystone. "Um, Naruto? I don't know how wise that is."

"Shh." He presses a finger against his lips. "Can you guys hear that?"

Maki and Hinata share a confused look, before turning back to Naruto. "Hear what?"

"I dunno, there's some kinda noise and I think it's coming from this thing." He presses his face even more against the onyx surface, although he was already pressed as much as he could be. It's very faint. But he can make out some of it if he focuses enough. ' _-se -e'_. "It's a voice but what's it saying…"

Hinata steps forward and tries to listen in but she hears nothing. "Naruto, are you sure? I don't hear anything"

"Same." Maki shakes her head after listening in to the Prism.

"Positive! I only started hearing it after I went into Sage Mode but I know it's there."

"This Sage Mode of yours," Maki pointedly looks at Naruto, "And the natural energy you say this thing is emanating. It might be more of a connection that we thought."

"If a creature truly is sealed within, it might be capable of using a form of Sage Mode just as you are."

"So that means, what? We're somehow connected through our sage chakra and that's why I can hear it?"

"It's possible."

Naruto steps back and rubs his reddened ear. In hindsight, it may not have been the best idea to press his ear against a black rock that's been exposed to the scorching desert Sun all day.

"One problem, though. I'm positive it's a voice that I'm hearing."

"And?" Maki tilts her head.

"Last time we saw these markings was at the Temple which turned out to be a Great Beast, but Great Beasts can't talk. So if the thing inside can speak…"

"... It's something else entirely." Hinata finishes his thought.

"Exactly."

Without a moment's hesitation, Maki takes her large scroll off her back and sets it on the ground. She opens several other smaller scrolls that have sealing formulae on them, she opens the journal on pages that share markings with the Prism, and takes out a brush and ink.

"That sounds like all the more reason to start working. We have to figure out what it is."

"Right!" Hinata gives a firm nod. "Naruto, could I ask you to lend me Kurama's chakra?"

"Hm? I mean, sure, what for?" He asks but he doesn't really need an answer first. He stands behind her and places a hand on her back. The air around him becomes heavy, shimmer like a mirage under the heat, and his clothes become enveloped in orange chakra, black lines and swirls running all across the back of his flak jacket, his arms and legs, and his armguards.

Hinata herself is surrounded in a thin layer of orange chakra, similar to when Naruto shared his chakra with everyone during the war, except this time it's more refined, more practiced. It appears to be smaller but that's because Naruto and Kurama have learned to better cooperate. While her body is surrounded by the thin layer of orange, her own flak jacket flares up just like Naruto's chakra cloak.

She closes her eyes and weaves her chakra. "So I can do this." After a moment, she opens her eyes. Bright blue with a white flower motif.

" **Tenseigan"**

Purple flame-like chakra now clashes with Naruto's orange, emanating from her arms and shoulders.

Maki looks in awe, ink dripping from her brush. "That's… not the Byakugan."

"No, it's not. It's a higher state, although I can't maintain it for long as it drains my chakra at an incredible rate, but with Kurama on our side, I should be able to hold it for longer."

"So, do you see anything?" Naruto himself tries to get a better feel of it now using the Nine Tails' power but nothing changes on his end. Not even the faint voice gets any louder.

"I can, yes. There's… so much more to it than before. Is this the natural energy you were talking about." She looks around the entire area, slack-jawed. "It's so… empowering and calming at the same time."

"Hinata" Maki snaps her fingers. "What about the Keystone?"

"Right! Sorry." She focuses back on the large obelisk in front of her. "I can see the internal workings of the sealing! Somewhat. It's still not entirely clear and the crystal is blocking some of my sight. It almost reminds me of Guren's Crystal Style and how I wasn't able to see through its reflective nature."

Naruto bites his tongue for now. That'll be a conversation for later.

The more Hinata strains herself to look past all the obstacles, the harder it becomes. Her eyesight becomes foggy until she's forced to drop the Tenseigan and even the Byakugan altogether. Her hisses in pain and rubs her eyes. Naruto releases Kurama's chakra around both of them, returning to his normal state.

"Are you okay?" Naruto holds her shoulders as she staggers slightly, making sure she doesn't collapse.

"I am. Even if I can use it for longer, the pain is still present. I just need to rest my Byakugan for a bit. I'll be fine." She squeezes his hand and goes to sit down on the ground. He sits down with her, still holding on to her, not for support this time but just because he wants to. She continues to hold his hand for support.

"Were you able to discern anything?" Maki inquires.

"A little bit. I still couldn't entirely see the structure of the sealing technique but I believe I have a grasp of some of it. It could take me a few more days. I'm afraid I don't think my eyes can take much more of this."

"That's perfectly fine. When you recover, show me what you saw and where, and I can at least begin working on educated guesses."

After a few minutes, Hinata eventually recovers enough to the point where even her normal eyes don't cause her pain and she shows Maki the chakra flow that she was able to see with her Tenseigan. The Hyuga don't only see people's chakra pathways, they can see the chakra structure of jutsu and manipulate and potentially even cancel them. This time there's just a few more things in her way to properly see this particular jutsu's chakra.

When they've done enough for the day and Hinata has shared everything she saw with Maki, they pack up their things and begin making their way back. Before they head out, Naruto pulls Hinata to the side.

"Actually, can we talk for a bit?"

Hinata is visibly surprised. "Uh, of course."

Maki slings her scroll across her back and chuckles. "Odd place for a date but who am I to judge? Have fun, you two." And she Flickers away.

"Right, so…" Naruto trails off for a moment. Hinata's heart begins pounding faster uncertain what he'd want to talk to her about right now. "Guren's here."

She breathes in and doesn't exhale for a moment. Not what she expected him to say at all. "You mean… Guren of the Crystal Style?"

Naruto nods. "Same one. They've been living here for a few months now, in hiding after… well, everything."

"But… how? I'm positive there were no shinobi here besides the Hidden Sand stationed. How did you find them?"

"I dunno exactly but they've been using some kind of seal that hides their chakra, unless you apparently use Sage Mode. Something Orochimaru was experimenting with before he died."

Hinata gets a worried expression on her face. "Naruto… How do you know that?"

"She told me." He answers without a care in the world.

"She… You mean, you spoke with her? Naruto, we have to report her to the Hidden Sand and-"

Naruto cuts her off, holding onto her shoulders. "No, no, Hinata, it's fine. She's not an enemy,I promise. She's changed. She changed all the way back when we fought her. They just wanna live as a family, that's all."

"But they were also Orochimaru's subordinates, they're wanted criminals."

"And they've changed, I promise! They escaped from Orochimaru and have been laying low. I think they deserve a chance to live their lives in peace."

"Naruto, I'm just not sure about this… What are we even expected to do, just pretend they're not here?"

"Look, how about we just meet them and talk? I know you'll see what I mean when you see them. And… uhhh… I may have let it slip about Yokumaru and his Crystal Style..."

Hinata groans and rests her head against his chest. "Naruto, we need to be more careful with the kids. We're in charge of their safety and we can't expose them to any more danger than necessary, but…" She raises her head and looks him in the eyes, "If you trust Guren truly has turned over a new leaf, then it can't hurt to check. Just please, don't let your guard down, should anything happen."

He nods in response. "Alright, I promise." He cups her face and presses his forehead against hers. "I wouldn't put the kids in danger if I wasn't certain about this."

"I know you wouldn't. I'm just worried about them." She places a hand over his and leans into his palm, gently rubbing her cheek against it.

"And that makes you so amazing." He gives her a kiss and pulls her into a tight hug. "We can meet with 'em first thing tomorrow, and you can put your mind at ease."

* * *

The following morning, Naruto and Hinata took all three kids under the pretense of training but in reality Naruto led them right to Guren's house. They didn't actually tell them what it's about because of prying shinobi ears all around so that was a conversation to be had on the spot. Hopefully it wouldn't be awkward.

They're all welcomed in and accommodated to the best of the house's ability. They're only 3 people and don't tend to get that many visitors, let alone 5 at a time, but they manage to get comfortable enough.

"So, we meet again." Guren smiles at Hinata. It's not an entirely malicious smile but there's definitely an element of teasing in it. "It's been so long."

"I hope this meeting will be more pleasant than our last."

There's a moment of silence as the adults aren't really sure how or where to start.

Naruto clears his throat. "Right, first off. You three gotta promise not tell a soul about this, alright? This is really important, but it's a secret that we all know each other, okay?"

The kids all look between each other confused. Kotori turns to Naruto. "But we really don't know each other, dad."

"You must be Kotori, huh?" Guren interjects, then points to the boys in order. "And you would be Shoto, and…" She gets a very clear look at the other boy. At first glance, he looks nothing like her at all. White hair as opposed to her light blue, and red eyes as opposed to her black. Then again, members who share an ancestry don't have to share looks but it's usually common that they do. "And you must be Yokumaru, the Crystal Style boy."

"Ah, yes?" Yokumaru looks around nervously.

Naruto places a hand on the boy's head, comforting him. "It's alright. Guren here's a good friend. I trust her, and I think she might be able to help you. Why don't you show her what you can do?"

"Alright." He nods and performs a shorter set of hand seals than he usually does, creating a miniature version of his Crystal Wall as a cluster of blue crystals appear on the table.

"I see." Guren leans in to get a closer look at the cluster, running a finger over it and tapping it. "You're right. It's the same." She raises her gaze to look him in the eyes. "Boy, what do you know about your abilities?"

"Um, not a lot? I guess no one does besides dad but he's..." He trails off, not that Guren needs him to to understand what he means.

"And he taught you to use this? Could he do it, too?"

Yokumaru nods. "Yeah. He started teaching me when I turned 6 and could use some chakra but it was really hard and I could only do the Crystal Wall. He could do a lot more."

Hinata interrupts the questioning. "Is it necessary to bring up this topic?"

"Yes." Guren answers immediately. "I was thinking about it last night. Maybe it's me being hopeful and optimistic, which isn't like me at all. But… kid, your dad. What's his name and what did he look like?"

"His name's Kuu Kigatsu. And…" He slumps his shoulders, looking down at his hands, "I don't really remember what he looked like. I've had to think a lot lately. But he had blue hair, like yours."

Guren sighs and pinches her nose.

"Guren?" Naruto raises a brow at her.

"I don't really remember my mom, either. She died when I was really young and I was left to fend for myself. But I still remember some stories she told, even if vaguely. They gave me hope for a bit." She takes a sip of water before continuing, her eyes looking at their guests but also focusing elsewhere. "One of those stories was her family she was separated from. I guess after she died, I thought I could maybe find them and have a family again. Her younger brother, my uncle, Kuu."

Yokumaru looks at her with widened eyes. Naruto gasps, on the edge of his seat. "Hold on, do you mean…"

She can only shrug in response. "I don't know the name Kigatsu, but a man named Kuu with blue hair like me and my mom who can use Crystal Style like we could? Sounds a bit too similar."

Yokumaru only stares blankly. "But… that's…"

Kotori bounces in her seat, clasping onto Yokumaru's shoulder. "So you two are family?! That's awesome!"

"Are you… really?" Yokumaur still has a tough time processing the information.

"Well, I can't confirm it, but chances are high we're cousins."

Naruto tries to grab the boy's attention. "You alright, Yokumaru?"

He nods several times. Whether it's just to really confirm it or in an attempt to fight back the tears, Naruto isn't sure, but his lowered frame begins shaking. He clutches onto his clothes and lowers his head even more. He makes no sound but the droplets falling on his pants are evident. Naruto wraps both arms around him, with Kotori on his other side also holding him tightly.

Guren seems to panic. "Ah, um, you don't have to cry about it, you know."

Yukimaru steps over to the other side of the table, to the crying Yokumaru and pats his leg. "Finding family's both a difficult and a good time, but it's a relief, isn't it? And if you're Guren's family that means you're mine and Gozu's too! So we all get even more family."

Gozu inches a bit closer to Guren. He tries to whisper but his rumbling voice makes it audible for everyone. "You said you held onto hope when you were younger, right? So you know what he's going through."

She looks toward the crying boy for a moment longer. "Yeah, I know." She goes over to him, Kotori giving her the space to do so, kneeling besides him. He calms down now and, his head still down, sees her robes. "Look, kid, I don't really know what this means for either of us. My situation's… difficult. I don't know if I can be your family but at the very least, I'm glad we found each other, even though my mom and your dad couldn't." She reaches over to place a hand on his arm.

Yokumaru calms down and finally looks up. Her features are soft and kind, reminding him of his own mother. Her face is nostalgic. The more he looks at her, the closer she is, the more he can place his father in his memories again. He grasps onto her sleeve, sniffing, and halfheartedly leans forward slightly. A part of him wants to know his family but another parts knows she's a stranger and doesn't have much reason to want to be family. He doesn't want to overstep. Doesn't want to push her away.

He's pulled out of his uncertainty by Guren drawing him into a hug.

The two groups spend some more time conversing, but Naruto has to go to the forest to stand watch over the civilians, leaving Hinata with the kids here to catch up.

* * *

Over the course of the next two days, Guren and Yokumaru talk about their families, what they've had to go through and are surprised to find oddly a lot in common. Besides the whole being a servant to a psychopath part. They talk about the Crystal Style, with Guren giving him advice on how to properly train in it. Throughout the day, Hinata's mind IS put at ease as she can tell these genuinely have changed and want to live peacefully as a family and are not interested in continuing their past lives. Kotori and Shoto are clearly happy for Yokumaru and help him adjust to the thought of having someone else out there besides his mom. Yukimaru also spends a lot of time with them and watches over their training despite not being a ninja himself.

When it comes to the job at hand, Naruto and Hinata continue keeping watch for bandits and some smaller groups are discovered and dealt with swiftly. Some injuries are had on the Hidden Sand's side but they're kept to a minimum, as they had plenty of warning to prepare an assault thanks to Naruto's Sage Mode and Hinata's Byakugan.

Some progress is made on the Prism, as well. Hinata's been able to work out some parts of the chakra flow of the seal used on it but it's still not enough. Maki has tested some sealing that she's more familiar with but gets no reaction.

On the second day, however, something does happen that puts everyone on edge.

While probing and testing the Prism, it gives off a hum. Not triggered by anything that they're doing as it happens while they're taking a break, but the rest markings on it begin glowing. The dark surface of the Prism dims down. It's no longer jet black but more grey in colour. As they scuttle about to try and find a reason for this happening, Naruto begins meditating to enter Sage Mode.

The voices and yelling of people nearby brings their attention to the sky behind them.

Like a mirage, there's an image floating in the air.

A single tomoe.

In Sage Mode, Naruto hears the voice from the Keystone. It's still faint, it's still muffled, and he still can't make out all of it but it's clearer than before.

' _-ese me'_

* * *

**Name meanings**

Kuu Kigatsu (キガツ クウ, Kigatsu Kuu) = from 'kigatsuku', meaning 'to perceive' or 'to be attentive'. Keeping in line with 'kigatsuyokunaru' and 'kigatsuyoi'.


	30. Chapter 30

**HIDDEN SAND CONVERGENCE IV**

The town is in a state of confusion and mild panic.

The Hidden Sand shinobi are doing their best to calm down the citizens, but the sudden appearance of a tomoe in the sky is a worrying event. Everyone here is accustomed to living in the desert and are well familiar with what its effects are and this is nothing that they've ever seen.

Some are proclaiming this as another world-ending event like when tomoe just like this one suddenly appeared on the Moon and they became trapped, enveloped in the roots of a tree. These people, certain that their lives are once again in mortal peril, spread their emotions quite easily and many more begin believing they're right.

In the chaos, one figure causes them to pause and pay attention. A figure that just a year ago would have struck fear into their hearts and made things worse. Things, however, have changed. The Nine Tailed Demon Fox looms over even the tallest building, ensuring that everyone can see it.

"Everyone!" Naruto's voice resonates much farther than it normally would, boosted by Kurama's large frame. "I know you're all worried about your families and you want to keep them safe, but the Hidden Sand shinobi want the same for everyone here! Know that it's being taken care of. Trust in them as you've always done and everything will be alright!"

The reassurance of the hero of the war who saved the world has an immediate calming effect. The people turns to the Hidden Sand shinobi who're out in the street and begin paying attention to what they say.

Naruto exits his Kurama form and lands on the ground, reuniting with Maki and Hinata.

"Thank you." Maki sighs in relief. "Hearing from you definitely has an effect on people."

"I just hope it helped." Naruto looks back to the center of town, his mind going toward the scared people who don't know what's going on. He'd like to help even more but he himself doesn't know what's going on.

Hinata places a comforting hand on his forearm. "You said it yourself- let's trust in the Hidden Sand. We have other ways that only we can help."

"Yeah. You're right." He turns his attention to the path ahead of them, following Maki.

The Sand Jounin nods. "Let's go." She calls out and leads them to their destination.

They make their way to the Hidden Sand's designated office building, arriving just in time to see a messenger falcon fly out of the building's top floor. A man stands in front of the building, issuing orders to the Chunin and Jounin present before they scatter to their delegated positions.

The man looks around and notices his colleague's approach. "Maki, I don't suppose what THAT is?" He points to the sky.

"I just might, actually." Not the answer he was expecting. "Was that messenger for the Hidden Sand?"

"Yeah. No one knows what it is or how far it spans. Is it visible only to us, only in our general area, or is it nation-wide? We need a bigger picture." He explains.

"I need messages sent out to where the other 3 Prism Keystone are. I need answers from them specifically?" The man furrows his brow inquisitively. He doesn't even need to ask for Maki to answer his unspoken question as it's written on his face. "Something happened to the Prism here. Just before that thing appeared in the sky, the writing lit up and it turned grey."

"What? Then we know exactly what's causing it. You guys have been on it for a few days now, how much have you figured out?"

Hinata shakes her head. "Not nearly enough. We're still unaware as to how it functions, or even what this change means or how it was brought about. We need more time."

"And we need more eyes." Naruto continues. "It's like you said, it might only be us that're affected, or it might affect anyone close to these Prisms. We gotta know if the others changed, or if someone there did somethin' to 'em."

Maki looks back toward both of them, head slightly turned. She then looks forward to her fellow Jounin. "That's the gist of it. It might take a while to get information back but it's information we need."

"Right." The man looks deep in though. "I'll send the Hanemarus. They're not as fast as Takamaru," He looks in the direction the hawk from before flew in, "But they're the fastest we got."

Hinata turns to address Naruto. "Would it be possible to ask the toads to deliver a message instead?"

Naruto shakes his head. "They need a nearby water source that their ponds are connected to, and they don't have any in the Land of Wind. It would take 'em way longer than a messenger hawk."

"I see."

"Send the hawks. Meanwhile, we'll keep at it." Maki turns to her temporary teammates. "Naruto, Hinata, you're dismissed for today."

"But we can't stop now! Something's happening and we gotta get to the bottom of it! Didn't you just say we'd keep at it?" Naruto protests.

"And we will. But I first need to go over everything we've discovered so far and go through some of my records. We can't do anything if we don't know anything."

Naruto grumbles. She's right, of course, but he's never been the biggest fan of sitting around and not doing anything even if he can't actually do anything right now. Right now, all they can do is get back to the kids and be with them.

* * *

Over at Guren's house, she and Gozu are sitting on a bench outside, gazing up at the giant tomoe floating in the sky. Unlike most people in the town, however, they remain calm. Mostly because they know better, but also for the kids. If this was enough to scare them, they never would've survived Orochimaru's experiments.

Naruto and Hinata quickly make their way, just as the kids exit the house, having seen them approach from the window.

"Dad, mom!" Kotori runs in front of the boys. "What IS that?"

"I'd like to ask that, as well." Guren stands up and goes to them. "You realize what that looks like, right?"

Naruto pauses, staring at her. "I know. And it's got nothing to do with him."

"You sure? 'Cause when one third of the Sharingan pops up in the sky, I kinda have to think it's got something to do with the Sharingan. That's what happened last time, too. And since there's only one pair of Sharingan out in the world..."

"I know what happened last time; I was there, but this time it's different. It's these Prism things that keep the land fertile. They're using some really old jutsu that we can't figure out." Naruto explains.

"And you sure he's not the one doing?" Guren continues.

"Positive. He's changed. He's not the person you knew back then."

The kids look back and forth as the exchange happens, confused.

"Uhh, shishou, who are you talking about?" Shoto decides to ask the question on their minds.

Naruto looks down and smiles at them, a slight shift from the increasingly frustrated expression he'd been progressively making as Guren continued her doubt. "An old friend of mine. You'll meet him soon enough. Probably."

"Can you not contact him now?" Gozu inquires. "Even if he's not the one doing it, he might have some answers."

"That's the thing. He set off on his own journey a while ago. No one really knows exactly where he's run off to."

"So we're on our own for now." Guren sighs.

"I wouldn't put it that way." Hinata corrects her. "We're all working together and using our abilities to assist each other. No one is on their own." She stands firm, determination flaring in her eyes.

Seeing this, Guren can't help but crack a smile. "Hah, I suppose you are. Then we'll leave it to you lot."

"I don't suppose you could help us out with it? Like, it's a crystal and you're a Crystal Style user!" Naruto asks.

Yokumaru looks up to her, as well.

Guren sighs. "I can't let myself be discovered, kid. There's a lot at stake here." She briefly glances toward Yukimaru. "Besides, I've taken an interest in it before and it never reacted to my Crystal Style so I just left it alone." She shrugs.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry."

"You'll figure it out kid, I know it." She reaches over to ruffle his hair to which he instantly objects, jumping back.

Everyone roars with laughter at his embarrassment to which he only grumbles in protest. Eventually, he and Hinata take the kids back to town where they continue their training themselves before resting for the night.

* * *

Over the duration of their stay here, before and after the tomoe appeared in the sky, the kids learned more things about their, as Kotori believes them to be, soon-to-be-friends.

Both Sangen and Tayuri's parents are technically civilians, working on gathering the wood, treating it, and creating puppets and spare parts for them. Sangen's parents are retired Genin, having served for some years before they decided they're not fit for active duty and stepped down from being puppet users to being puppet makers, which they proved to be better at.. Sangen himself, on the other hand, has shown aptitude for puppetry and plans to become a ninja, hopefully getting past Genin.

Tayuri's family are simply civilian puppet makers with no history of being shinobi, although Tayuri herself intends on becoming one and is in the Hidden Sand's Academy, being classmates and close friends with Sangen.

The two of them do have another shared interest, though. One that their parents help them with as much as they can, namely performing. The creator of the Puppet Technique, Monzaemon Chikamatsu, started as a performer himself, putting on plays for the weary souls he'd come across, before turning it into a combat skill for shinobi.

Sangen would often put on puppet shows for the people at taverns when their parents would go out for a drink, and Tayuri would accompany him with dance and song, often using the small puppet as a dance partner, and showing off ninjutsu of her own, namely the Binding Cloth just like Maki. With it, she can control its motions while she dances, breathing even more life into her performance. Everyone finds their plays adorable, especially Kotori who can't get enough, much to Tayuri's dismay.

One particular instance, Tayuri narrates a story of Monzaemon's deed while Sangen plays out the scenario with his puppet. She tells of how Monzaemon came to create a larger puppet but needed the proper materials if he was to create a masterpiece, so he set out to find a writing quill worthy of his creation with which to mark the seals within his puppet, for storing and summoning weapons. He sought out a legendary bird that had hid deep beneath the sand and negotiated to borrow just one of its beautiful, fallen feathers in exchange for a show so entertaining that it made the bird wish to leave its underground home and fly the skies once more. When the puppet Monzaemon played out taking a feather, Kotori stepped in. Not physically, but using her jutsu, she creates a single feather just above Sangen's puppet which floats down in front of it. Seeing the opportunity, Sangen has the puppet take the feather and holds it aloft proudly. Sangen looks towards Kotori and gives a light smile, which is returned by a wide grin and a thumbs up. Tayuri does not hide her pout, staring down Kotori, but gathers herself and finishes the story.

With the show over and after absorbing the applause and praise from the people at the tavern, Tayuri stomps over directly in front of Kotori, inches away from the other girl's face.

"What was that?" Tayuri demands.

Kotori cocks her head. "What was what?"

"You know exactly what! You interrupted the play!"

"No, I didn't! Monzaemon needed a feather so I gave him a feather, it's not a big deal."

Tayuri begins fuming as Shoto stands up and gets in front of her. "Back off, alright? She gave a feather."

Yokumaru stands with him. "If you don't want us to butt in, we won't, but don't shout. You're ruining everyone's impression." He motions to the room.

Turning around, Tayuri sees some of the adults nearby vaguely looking towards them, listening in on the kids' disagreement. She turns beet red, having shown her audience a side of herself she shouldn't show. Just as she's about to storm off, Sangen walks to them, holding his puppet in his arms.

"Thanks for the feather." He says, head slightly lowered making his brown hair cover his eyes. "I've never seen anyone summon feathers."

"That's not all I can do!" Kotori demonstrates her abilities by conjuring half a dozen sparrows to flap around them, chirping.

"Wow." Sangen gasps at the sudden appearance of the birds and raises a finger which one of them uses as a perch. "Hey, do you think we could use them in more shows? If you want to be a part of them?"

"W-what?" Tayuri flips around. "We don't need them! We're fine on our own."

"Yeah, but things like this are better enjoyed with more people, right? The more there are, the better we can make it, and people will like it more. Isn't that what Monzaemon said in his records? Share the joy."

Tayuri looks down, only from the corner of her eye glimpsing Sangen's cheerful mood. Something he doesn't show everyone due to his shyness, and yet now he's opening up more and more to these guys, more so than even to his classmates back home. She mutters. "Fine." She just can't get rid of this nagging feeling.

The following displays now include Kotori, and even Yokumaru and Shoto talked about their abilities and how they could contribute. Kotori would conjure a sparrow to play the part of the legendary bird and even use her Feather Curtain to simulate a sandstorm, buffeting the puppet with their softness. When telling stories of a character climbing mountains, Shoto would use his Earth Style to create small mounds of earth for it to climb. Yokumaru would create a very small and smith hexagonal crystal for a story that told of the character.

The people enjoy the combined effort to make this all the more entertaining, much to Tayuri's chagrin. She continues to be slightly antagonistic towards the trio, while Sangen gets closer to them.

* * *

As all this happens with the kids, Maki, Naruto, and Hinata continue investigating the Prism Keystone, trying everything they can think of to figure out its inner workings. Before they can, however, a second tomoe appears in the sky barely 2 days after the first one appeared.

Where the first one was pointed upward, this one appears below it and slightly to the side, pointed diagonally downward.

The Prism Keystone grows lighter in colour once more, now being more of a light grey. With its newfound semi-translucence, two tomoe are visible within it.

In Sage Mode, Naruto can hear a raspy voice, clearer than before.

" _-lease me!"_

"Again…" Naruto hisses. The voice both sounds like it's coming from an outside source and from within his head, and it's beginning to give him a headache. He releases the natural energy he'd gathered and holds his head. "The voice is stronger again, and we're no closer to figuring it out."

Maki hits the ground. "Damn it." She begins gathering her things. "Back to the research stage. The others will need us."

"Maki…" Naruto stares at the Prism. "Tell me we're getting somewhere."

"We are." She's firm in her words. "I'll figure it out."

The townspeople's worries increase once more, and Maki, Naruto, and Hinata double their efforts.

* * *

The day after the appearance of the second tomoe, Naruto, Hinata, and the kids are at the tavern, trying to enjoy their drinks, a task which is made a bit more difficult due to the heavy atmosphere that dominates most of the town. The people are uncertain, and as much as they have faith in the shinobi that they'd be kept safe, it's clear that even they don't know what's going on right now.

"Sensei, we're gonna be fine, right?" Yokumaru looks at the table, holding his cup with both hands.

"Of course we are." Hinata brushes the boy's hair. "Maki and we're figuring it out."

"Is something like that big rock monster going to appear?" Shoto asks.

"Hopefully not." Naruto answers. "We're doing everything we can, alright?"

"We believe in you, dad. If you can't stop it, no one."

Naruto chuckles at Kotori's encouragement. "You betcha!"

The mixed mood of the tavern is interrupted when the doors swing open to reveal two unfamiliar figures enter.

One of the men is shorter and lithe, with probably his most notable feature being that his entire torso is wrapped in what appears to be bandages. Over his mouth, he has a mask that resembles a monster's teeth; sharp and jagged. On his back he carries two swords.

The other man is taller and bulkier, wearing significantly more clothes than his companion, actually sporting a shirt and thick vest that seems to be of similar make to a Hidden Village's flak jacket. Oddly enough, on his hip he has a fairly large sword hilt, but it has no blade whatsoever. Instead, where a blade would be, are markings etched directly into the guard.

Both of them sport short, slightly spiky red hair and silver eyes.

They make their way to the bar, going between the tables that have gone unnaturally quiet, people trying not to make eye shorter man takes out a piece of paper and places it on the counter, while the taller man takes out two posters.

Shorter man speaks first. "We're bounty hunters, looking for these two criminals. You recognize 'em?"

The barkeep stares for a moment and shakes his head. "No, can't say that I do."

"You sure?" He presses. "Look real good. I got in on good authority they're somewhere in this region. Guren of the Crystal Style and Gozu the Mudwall."

Naruto and Hinata freeze.

"I told you, I don't know 'em." The barkeep grows exasperated. "If you're looking for criminals, ask the shinobi."

Naruto stands up from his table. Hinata tries to say something but when their eyes meet, they come to a silent understanding. Naruto isn't angry and isn't being rash, he's going to try to approach this calmly. He walks over to the two bounty hunters, waving as he calls to them.

"Hey there, pals. Out on a hunt?"

They both turn around. The shorter man once again takes charge. "We're not your pals."

"But we could be. Name's Naruto Uzumaki."

He scoffs. "You expect me to believe Uzumaki would be way out here? Get lost, kid."

The tall redhead "I'm Isa Miyoshi, and this is my older brother Seikai Miyoshi." shows the posters. "Have you seen these two?"

"Hey, don't give my name away like that!" Seikai protests.

' _Wait, the short one's older?'_ Naruto shakes those thoughts away. "Nope, I haven't."

Seikai squints. "Sure answered fast."

Naruto turns to him and gives a teasing smile. "Sorry, I overheard you earlier. Guren and Gozu. I've fought them before so I already know what they look like, and I'd definitely know if I'd seen 'em after."

"You've fought them? Where?" Isa asks.

"If you're bounty hunters then you should know why they have a bounty to begin with, right? They tried to capture the Three Tails 'bout 2 years ago, and my team was there to stop 'em."

Seikai stares Naruto down. "So what can you tell us about 'em?"

Naruto smirks. "I can tell you to back off 'cause they're not someone you can take on. They got away from me so I'll be the one to bring 'em in."

"You little brat." Seikai reaches for one of the swords on his back but is stopped by Isa placing a hand on his arm.

"I see." Isa rolls up the wanted posters. "So you really are the war hero, huh?" He pats his brother on the shoulder and goes for the door. "We should go, then."

Before they fully leave, Seikai briefly looks back toward Naruto from the corner of his eye.

Naruto, making sure those two are out, goes back to his table. "We gotta warn her." He says quietly so to not be heard.

They linger for a minute longer to not arouse suspicion and head out. Before they can get far, Maki runs towards them clearly in a hurry.

"Naruto! Hinata!" She calls out to and stops right in front of them. She looks around and ushers them to follow her to the side, away from potential prying eyes and ears.

"What's wrong?" Hinata expresses her concern. "Did something happen with the Prism?"

"Not ours, but we just received a message from one of the settlements where the other Prisms are. It was destroyed! That's when the first tomoe appeared."

"Wha- How did that happen?!" Naruto demands. "Who did it?"

She shakes her head. "They don't know. It was just destroyed when they went checked on it. The shinobi guarding it were found dead."

"Then…" Hinata looks to the two tomoe in the sky, "That means a second one has been destroyed."

Maki nods. "We haven't received a messenger hawk from anyone else, but that's more than likely. We're about to bring the Prism in, keep it under heavy lock and key, and up security. I'd like to ask you to be on security detail for it. We need to keep it safe at all cost if they're being targeted."

Naruto and Hinata share a concerned look. For this to come up now of all times...

"Of course we will but right now…" Hinata trails off, her brain already wracking with all the new information from now and earlier.

"Maki, just give us a few minutes, okay? Something came up, so we'll deal with that and get back to ya."

"I mean… sure. Just don't take too long, alright? We have to act now." Maki Flickers away to deal with everything, letting them go about their business.

They also Flicker away, moving at a faster speed, seeing as they now have several things to worry about.

From the corner of a building nearby, the two figures watch Naruto's group from the shadows. Seikai looks to Isa and nods, both disappearing in a flash.

* * *

Guren waves dismissively at Naruto who's clearly worried. Too worried if you ask her. "Naruto, we're fine. This isn't the first bounty hunter who's looked for us. They'll go away soon enough."

"But they got your picture and everything! It's only a matter of time before someone recognizes you!" He protest.

Guren sighs, while Gozu takes the time to explain. He rolls up his sleeve to show the marking they revealed earlier. "You remember these seals that hide our chakra? That's not the only thing it does." He hides it with his sleeve again. "It has a minor genjutsu effect. Even if the people here saw the posters, they wouldn't be able to connect us."

"Then why did I recognize you right away?" Naruto inquires.

"Yes, I could see that it's you two, as well." Hinata adds.

"Yeah, I don't know. Maybe because of our previous connection, you could see through it?" Guren guesses.

"There's also the fact that these seals were untested." Gozu chimes in. "It may be a combination of factors but our previous encounter may be one of them."

"Either way, you got nothing to worry about, kid." Guren once again dismisses his concerns.

Before Naruto could voice those same concerns again, there's a knock on the door which Guren goes to answer.

"Hold on, it's not safe!" Naruto calls out to her, trying not to raise his voice that it'd be heard outside.

She shakes her head. "Like I said, we're protected. No one here has any reason to think we're in this town."

She opens the door and is met by a person she'd never seen before.

Red hair, silver eyes, mouth hidden by the lower half of an oni mask, bandages covering his entire body. One of the swords on his back is unsheathed and rests on his shoulder. He looks at Guren and while his mouth is not visible, his eyes smile.

"Hello, Crystal Style."

Guren's eyes widen in surprise as she begins to move.

Seikai's blade catches fire and before he can swing it, the entire area in front of him becomes crystalized- pink crystals in increasingly large sizes sprout from the ground but he expertly dodges all of them, hopping from cluster to cluster and ultimately landing atop the final crystal, high above the surrounding buildings.

Everyone runs out to stand besides Guren.

"Why… Why is he here?" Naruto stares at the bounty hunter.

Seikai kneels and lets his flame sword rest, propping its tip against the crystal under him. "Pro tip, hero. When someone you know is being hunted down, don't run to them right away."

"No…" Naruto looks dejected. He frantically looks between Gozu and her. "Guren, I'm sorry. I-"

"Naruto." She cuts him off, not taking her eyes off Seikai. "Are you the type to start wallowing in pity when there's work to be done?"

He clicks his tongue. "I know, damnit…"

They all take battle-ready positions. Naruto takes a Frog Kata stance, Guren crystalizes the water molecules around her arm to form a blade, Gozu enlarges his arms, and just as Hinata activates her Byakugan, she sees the presence behind them. Remaining unseen up until the very last moment, he'd managed to sneak up behind them, fists smouldering with flames.

Isa slams his fists together before Hinata can fully turn around to push him back.

" **Fire Style: Flame Fist Blast Wave"**

Fire fills the entire area they were standing in, the shockwave shattering nearby glass and windows, even breaking Guren's Crystals closest to him and cracking the ones slightly further away.

When the fire and smoke dies down, an earthen dome stands in place. It shrinks and retracts back to its origin- Gozu's body. Thanks to the modifications done to his body, he's able change his own body's properties and become earth on top of using Earth Style.

In the split second that Isa's presence was made known, he immediately manipulated his body to create a wall of mud from his own flesh and blood. It's not as strong as the actual Earth Style ninjutsu but it served a purpose.

When he turns his body back to normal, his sustained injuries are clear- his clothes are slightly burned from taking the brunt of it and his skin is scorched. He growls at the larger Miyoshi brother.

"As I'd expect from the one called 'The Mudwall'," Isa draws the sword hilt hanging from his waist, which once again does not have an actual blade attached to it, "But from this moment on, I break you."

Gozu glares at him, once again focusing his chakra to his forearms, tripling their size.

"Gozu, stay calm." Guren warns him.

"I know." His voice is not calm.

"The kids are already out the back." Hinata observes the surroundings with her Byakugan. "But the other houses…"

"Then we'll just end this quick." Naruto smacks his closed fist in his palm.

Seikai stands up, still on top of the largest crystal. "Why are you with them? They're wanted criminals. Wanted by the Hidden Leaf, may I remind you."

"Because they're not bad guys!" Naruto yells at him. "If you're just looking for a paycheck then find someone else! Hell, I'll even help you, just leave Guren and Gozu out of it!"

"Sorry, kiddo, no can do. Way I see it, we got double the pay right now. We can bring in Guren and Gozu for the bounty AND we can turn in some traitors to the Hidden Leaf." Seikai mocks him. "Wonder how the world'll react when the hero is found out to protect criminals."

Naruto clicks his tongue. "Fine then. Just don't regret it."

Seikai disappears from his spot. In but a flash, all that there is in his place is the faint smoke from his fire. He reappears directly in front of Naruto, his sword mid-swing ready to slice the blonde in half. Naruto's instincts kick in and he ducks just in time, dodging the blade but the fires still singe some of his hairs.

" **Crystal Style: Crystal Needles"**

Much smaller crystalline structures jut out from the ground, in an attempt to surround and entrap Seikai. His leg is caught in one of them, allowing the other to pin him down as well. With nowhere for him to escape, Naruto gathers chakra around his palm.

" **Rasengan"**

The sheer power gathers some of the remnant flames from his sword, causing the fire to swirl even more and increasing its heat. The spiraling ball of raw chakra chips away some of the crystals beneath him , causing a large blast of force when the Rasengan connects. Once it dies down, they see not Seikai but instead his bandages, seemingly having expanded to form a bubble around his body.

" **Ninja Art Fire Style: Akurojin"**

The bandages catch on fire. White fire. As the flames surrounding his entire body, the crystals shatter, the wrappings snake around his body as if they have a mind of their own. As he reveals himself once again, they see smoke coming from his eyes and the white flames covering nearly his entire body, even his red hair.

"Alright then." Seikai's voice comes out distorted.

"Guren!" Gozu calls out, and just as he's about to move to her side, Isa charges at him.

"Don't turn your back on your enemy."

Hinata moves to stand in his way, sending a wave of pressure and chakra toward him.

" **Gentle Fist: Vacuum Palm"**

Isa manages to step aside but that halts his momentum enough where he's not free to move with his attack, but he soon proves he doesn't need to be. He swings his hilt and in a puff of smoke, a giant mace on it, easily taller than Isa himself and wider.

The massive weapon comes crashing down but Gozu manages to stop it with some difficulty, skidding on the ground after the fact. He tries to push back but recoils in pain when the entire weapon becomes enveloped in fire. Isa swings and forces Gozu to jump back, away from Guren and Naruto. Hinata Flickers by his side.

"We'll take him on together. Trust in Naruto and Guren." He remains focused, taking her Gentle Fist stance.

"Right." He picks himself up to his feet. "Thank you."

Isa swings his gigantic mace over his shoulder like it weighs nothing.

-x-

_Naruto & Guren vs. Seikai_

"Guren, watch out, his Fire Style is…"

"I know my own jutsu, Naruto. Fire is one of the things I can't crystalize, and this one looks powerful enough to break my Crystal Style." Guren observes Seikai's movements, or rather his wrappings' movements. "You're the one who should watch out. You're not a close quarters guy from what I can remember."

"That's the old me." He says with a confident smirk. "You'll see I'm a whole lot different now."

" **Multi Shadow Clones"**

As per his signature ability, Naruto summons dozens of doppelgangers all around himself and Guren who immediately rush at Seikai.

"... That's just the same stuff you did before." Guren observes.

"Just hold on a minute, alright!" Naruto protests. "I gotta set it up. Keep him off my back for a minute."

Seikai draws his second sword from his back, also setting it aflame with white fire before it's even fully unsheathed.

He runs forward, not even waiting for the Shadow Clones to get to him and begins slashing at them with expert speed and precision. Some Clones manage to get close enough to strike at him, but then the wrappings twist around to block them. The bandages grab some Clones by the arms or legs, causing them to disperse from the intense heat. One by one, he manages to dismiss the Clones utilizing extremely fast speeds, much faster than what he showed during his initial attack on Naruto.

They try to surround him from all sides to reduce the effectiveness of his bandages which does work to an extent, but he still has his mastery of kenjutsu to defend himself with. They throw kunai and shuriken, enhanced with Wind Style chakra for a sharper edge but even if they do get past the bandages, which not many do, he still swats them away.

Some of the more distant Clones weave their chakras and inhale, puffing their cheeks. They all release powerful torrents of water that come crashing at Seikai.

A technique taught to him in Mount Myoboku that while not powerful is very focused in its attacking point.

" **Water Style: Water Gun"**

When the steam dies down, Seikai emerges, making a dash towards Guren and the original Naruto.

Guren slams her hands on the ground under her causing sharp crystalline blades protrude from the ground to stab. When Seikai dodges it, another spike branches out to follow him. One after another, they extend to pierce him but he manages to fight his way around it. Using his wrappings, he pushes himself away or pulls himself away wherever applicable.

" **Crystal Style: Growing Crystal Thorns"**

The jutsu takes on the appearance of a grand glass tree, as more and more branches appear. Seikai kept escaping further and further upward

" **Fire Style: Great Fire Destruction"**

Mid-air, high above the crystal tree and the surrounding houses, Seikai spews a large amount of white fires from his mouth, materializing in front of his oni mask. The flames cause the crystals to burst and shatter but due the sheer size of the jutsu, they also threaten the nearby buildings.

"Damnit!" Guren acts quick. "Naruto!"

"I know. We're on it."

While Naruto himself does not move, there are still Shadow Clones that Seikai left behind who charge right into the fire to perform a last ditch effort.

" **Crystal Style: Crystal Encampment Wall"**

A much more impressive and awe-inspiring version than anything Yokumaru is able to do, crystals encompass every single building to protect them from the flames. While her own jutsu won't leave them entire unharmed, the damages after removing her crystals will be far less than this high-level ninjutsu, enhanced by the white flames.

From there, Naruto's Clones go directly under the intense flames. They split in 3 groups of 3, each working together to form a grand sphere of chakra, growing ever larger and a sheet of Water Style chakra around it.

" **Water Style: Massive Rasenshuriken"** x3

The elements clash. While it may not have been enough on its own, three S-Rank Water-Styles proved enough to stop the fire from causing too much damage. As the water hits the fire, they cancel each other out and the area is enveloped with steam instead. Thankfully, the Clones were dispersed before the Rasenshuriken could be fully detonated. They were duds by all accounts but that's all they were needed for.

A moment of quiet.

"I gotta say, kid, I'm surprised. If we were to fight now… But you're on your own for a bit. Covering all the buildings took a bit more chakra than I expected."

"Heh, I told ya I'm different." He boasts and looks at a Shadow Clone meditating behind him. "What's taking so long?"

The Clone opens his now yellow eyes. "You _know_ the natural energy's been acting up 'cause of the Prism…"

Seikai rushes out from the steam, both swords at the ready and enveloped with fire flames.

Naruto begins weaving hand signs.

"Not fast enough." The elder Miyoshi is already in front of Naruto. ' _There's no way he can react this time.'_

The Shadow Clone releases itself. Seikai swings, aiming for Naruto's hands, still in the process of weaving. Mere centimetres away, Naruto steps back and jumps up. He dodges the sword aiming for his hands, and even dodges the second sword that was aiming for his feet at blinding speed.

' _What? How?'_ Seikai looks up to his foe. Orange markings around his eyes. Yellow irises.

Naruto puffs out his cheeks and fires a torrent of water. In the same fashion as his Shadow Clones earlier but with much greater force.

" **Sage Art Water Style: Water Gun"**

Seikai is shot back from the immense pressure, slamming into a crystal. When the water dies down, Seikai stands to his feet clearly injured from the attack. The white flames on his left side have been extinguished.

He looks on with shock at his ability being lessened. "This is impossible. No one's ever extinguished Akurojin's power." He attempts to reignite his fire but the wet cloth does not take. "What did you do?" He glares.

"I'd like to know the same." Guren agrees with her attacker.

"Don't you go underestimating the toads of Mount Myoboku." Naruto warns him.

"Toads… You mean the ones from before taught you this?" Guren recalls him having large toads with him when last they fought but they did not exhibit this kind of power back then.

Seikai growls and runs forward. His speed has been lessened as his fire has gone out but he's still quick on his feet. Even though his left side is damp, he can still fan the flames on his right side, and he can already feel himself drying off.

Naruto takes a taijutsu stance.

Guren surrounds her arms in crystals, forming blades on each hand. "You still can't get close to him."

"I don't need to." He says with an odd calmness.

When Seikai draws near, he swings his sword but also commands with cloth to attack, as well. Just because they're damp doesn't mean they can't be used.

" **Binding Cloth"**

Naruto thrusts his hands forward, pushing back all of his cloth and his sword away without even touching them. Seikai recoils slightly from the pressure. He steps back, immediately recognizing the danger of these new abilities. He instead sends his Binding Cloth once more, some of them still on fire. Ironically enough, Naruto swatting them away actually helps them dry quicker and he once again is able to use his white flames to cover all of his wrappings.

As the fires grow hot once again, Naruto begins to struggle keeping them at bay, the intense heat reaching him even with his extended reach thanks to Sage Mode.

After a quick exchange, Seikai does manage to get to Naruto even with his heightened senses. The Cloth wraps around his arms and heavily burns him. His Sage Mode is powerful but even it can't hold off attacks from all directions forever and whatever this white fire is, it keeps Seikai's abilities almost up to par with Sage Mode. They're no joke. The only thing keeping his arms from completely burning up is the natural energy surrounding his body. Without it, he'd definitely be a goner.

With his hands bound, Naruto still manages to overpower them enough to bring his hands together and form his signature hand sign.

" **Shadow Clones"**

Four Narutos appear, his limit in Sage Mode, surrounding Seikai.

"Didn't work before, won't work now." Seikai mocks and already begins commanding his cloth to move and protect him from the Clones.

"You haven't even seen the main show yet." Naruto manages to give a snarky grin in spite of the immense pain in his arms.

Seikai does separate his arms but Naruto doesn't need that anymore.

" **Sage Art: Massive Rasengan"**

With his hands still bound, and in relative proximity to Seikai, there's not much the Miyoshi brother can do in this situation. He immediately protects himself with his bandages, needing every one of them to fend off the powerful natural-enhanced sphere. This, however, leaves him open from his other sides.

" **Sage Art Water Style: Water Gun"**

All of his Clones shoot the torrent of water at Seikai. He tries to increase the intensity of his flames to hopefully heat up the water into steam and render the water useless, but it doesn't work. He's buffeted from all sides and sent flying away.

-x-

_Hinata & Gozu vs. Isa_

Isa swings his flaming mace once more. Gozu and Hinata dodge rather easily, but the attack does not end there. Isa drags the mace along the ground, kicking up rocks and dirt to send flying at Gozu, who turns his body to mud to absorb all the debris.

Hinata uses this opportunity to go toward their opponent, chakra already gathered on her fingertips in preparation. She Flickers ahead to get the jump on him.

' _She's fast. Maybe as fast as Seikai.'_ Isa tried to follow her movement. Under normal circumstances, she may be fast enough to reach him, but normal circumstances these are not.

The mace disappears in a puff of smoke and Isa swings the hilt in Hinata's direction with all of his might. This time, a broadsword appears, his flames extending to immediately envelop it. Hinata manages to duck out of the way of the sword just before it can slash her, cutting a couple strands of her bangs.

At the very least, she got him to focus on her, and now he has her on one side and Gozu on his either side. He's surrounded, and he doesn't seem to have a Binding Cloth like his brother to attack from all directions.

Hinata carefully observes even his slightest movement with her Byakugan. The slightest shift in chakra, she's ready to act. ' _So, it's not just a mace. He can summon other weapons from those seals. There's no telling what else he can conjure.'_

Isa clutches his hilt, ready for an attack from either direction.

Gozu melts into the ground. Or it would be more accurate to say the ground around him becomes mud-like, allowing him to slip through as if it was water.

" **Earth Style: Subterranean Voyage"**

Isa scoffs. "You think you're being hidden, but these kinds of techniques are the most predictable." He swings his broadsword at Hinata. ' _They always aim for your feet, so if I can get closer to the Hyuga, I can force them to attack each other.'_

She dodges and parries his strikes, getting closer and closer to each other. One particular swing that Isa was aiming, one where Hinata doesn't fully dodge and only gets away with the sword close to her face. This is where Isa's special style of kenjutsu lies. He immediately switches his broadsword for his mace, mid-swing. While Hinata wouldn't have been cut by the sword, the mace will impact. It's much wider, it covers more space. Space which she didn't account for. He sets it ablaze with his Fire Style.

In that moment, Gozu emerges from the ground directly behind Hinata and punches the mace away. This time, his fist is surrounded by a heavy layer of stone and mud which keep him safe from the heat, although the impact does crack it and his makeshift gauntlet falls to pieces on the grund.

Isa's balance is thrown off. He's pushed back, one foot already off the ground. He can get himself stable again but the question is, will Hinata give him enough time to do so.

"You're already in my range." She goes for him blindspot, where he couldn't possibly defend in his current state, ready to block his chakra points.

Throughout the battle, she was focused on the main thing of interest- the sealing formula on Isa's sword, which he's used quite effectively so far. She probably should've known better, she probably should've examined him more closely. Had she done so, she would've noticed much earlier that he has another set of seals on the pommel.

Another flaming sword appears from the pommel which was aimed directly at Hinata as she got close.

She skids back, clicking her tongue.

Isa steps firmly on the ground. "Not many people can force me to reveal the second seal, but I couldn't very well allow a Hyuga to get close."

Gozu strengthens his body, making himself even larger than he already was. "I'll get him off balance again, you speed in when you find an opening."

"Right."

Gozu goes in first, followed by Hinata using his frame as cover. What ensues is a taijutsu versus kenjutsu bout, with Isa using his mace-sword combination to keep them away as they try to parry him.

Seeing it not paying off, Gozu changes his strategy. Instead of expanding his body, he shrinks it. He becomes much thinner and leaner than his usual self. The change is not only cosmetic, however, which Isa finds out almost immediately when he loses sight of him. Isa spots him from the corner of his eye when Flickers right next to him, readying a punch to the head.

The mace comes in just in time to stop it but the younger Miyoshi is still pushed back.

With the newly fast Gozu and the already fast Hinata, they each become a blur on the battlefield that Isa has a tougher time countering than before.

Isa grunts as another one of Gozu's punches scrapes his shoulder and Hinata's chakra-enhanced fist strikes him on the leg. She doesn't manage to hit him on a chakra point but it hurts nonetheless.

Isa slams his mace on the ground and weaves his chakra.

" **Fire Style Barrier: Tiger Cage"**

He's now surrounded by a translucent fiery red square, one side decorated with a flaming tiger's head.

Gozu runs forth and digs his hand into the ground, once again surrounding it with a thick layer of stone.

" **Earth Style: Rock Fist"**

He slams it against the barrier but it doesn't budge in the slightest.

Isa turns to look at him and the tiger switches sides to also face the wanted man.

" **Fire Style: Great Fire Bullet"**

Isa spews fire into the side of his barrier. The tiger's maw opens and when the fire comes out from it, its size and power are much greater than they should be for his jutsu.

" **Earth Style: Subterranean Voyage"**

Gozu manages to duck out of the way in time and comes out next to Hinata.

"That… may pose a problem."

"Not necessarily." She answers. "It's a strong barrier, but it's not impenetrable."

"Can you do something with your Byakugan."

"I believe so." She confirms. "Gozu, stay behind me 3 steps at all times. Whatever happens, just keep running forward and get ready to attack him."

He looks at her and remains silent for a moment but ultimately nods. "Alright."

She charges and Gozu does as he was instructed. Isa performs another Fire Bullet, apparently enhanced by the barrier, but neither of them attempt to dodge. Gozu puts his faith into Hinata who breathes in calmly and extends her hands forward.

The Byakugan allows its user extraordinary abilities, one of which is seeing the chakra pathways. They allow a Hyuga to strike directly at the source of their enemies' power and block them from using it, but what few know is that they can do more than block a person's chakra. They can block a jutsu's chakra. The Byakugan is able to see the chakra structure of a particular jutsu and just as they can block the chakra inside a person, they can block the chakra that makes up a jutsu. Not many know because not every Hyuga is able to train to such pinpoint precision. Luckily, Hinata IS one of those Hyuga.

As the fire roars towards them, she waves her hands in front of her, almost appearing to write calligraphy as she traces the chakra and when the Fire Bullet is directly in front of her, she fights through the intense pain, her hands and palms aching. With a swift flick of her wrists, she parts the Fire Style in two and disperses it as if it was never there.

When a moment later she reaches the Barrier, Isa curses. Before he can perform another jutsu, Hinata traces the structure of the barrier, once again fighting through the heat and releases it, opening Isa for an attack.

Three steps. That's how long it took for Hinata to stop and get rid of the barrier, allowing Gozu to rush forward without ever stopping his momentum. Isa tries to block but the punch sends him flying backward landing hard on the ground.

Isa coughs blood and tries to get to his feet but Hinata and Gozu are already in front of him.

"Please stop." Hinata says. "This is entirely unnecessary. Their bounty cannot be worth the trouble you're going through."

"This is the life we lead. If a little fight was enough to get us to back down, we'd never have made it." Isa looks up to her and her eyes widen in surprise when she sees his own silver eyes begin smoking.

The air around them becomes intensely hot as Isa's body is surrounded by white flames. They've no choice but to step back as the fire is far too hot for them to be close.

" **Ninja Art Fire Style: Akurojin"**

"I don't like using this as much as my brother does but the situation calls for it. I apologize for any inconvenience."

" **Fire Style Barrier: Tiger Cage"**

The same jutsu as before but this time the fire is much more intense and its colouring is white rather than the previous red.

" **Fire Style Sealing: Tiger Hunt"**

Two white tigers appear from the sides of the cage, roaring at Hinata and Gozu. What would typically be a tiger's black markings is instead sealing formula, running all over their bodies

Gozu grunts. "I don't suppose you can do that again."

Hinata winces in pain, her hands lightly burned. "No, that's impossible. However, I still may have something else."

"Hm?" Looks at her. Even though he's kneeling, he's still about her height. "Even more surprises?"

"If I can't get close to disrupt his chakra, I'll simply have to do it from afar. I'll need some time, however."

Gozu slams his fists on the ground. "Leave it to me."

" **Earth Style: Tearing Earth Turning"**

The ground under the two tiger splits, causing them to fall into the pits created by his jutsu. Only a moment later, however, they manage to crawl their way back up, having managed to hold on with their claws.

" **Earth Style: Sandwich"**

From both their sides, the stones shift and slam into the tiger, trapping them in place.

Isa releases them and resummons the tigers from his barrier.

This gave Hinata just enough time to accomplish what she set out to do. She opens her eyes, revealing their changed colour.

" **Tenseigan"**

Her body becomes enveloped in purple flame-like chakra, most prominent around her shoulders and arms. On her forearms, the purple chakra swirls and gathers into a spear-like weapon. She points her hands to the two tigers and the spears fire directly into them. As the chakra washes over, the tigers are completely dispersed.

"Damnit." Isa curses. "She can do that, too?" She weaves his chakra and pours more of it into the barrier, increasing its heat.

Hinata forms the spears again. She fires one at the Fire Style Barrier and as she spins from the throw, she throws the second one right behind it. The first spears strike and causes the barrier to waver while the second one finishes the job.

It pierces through, the flames running wild, and continues flying forward, directly into Isa. Because it had to push through the wall, its power is weakened and does not strike with all the might that it could have or should have.

Isa is struck by the raw chakra and yells out in pain. The white flames around him subside after the direct hit to his chakra network. He has the ability to conjure fire which has no effect on him, and regular fire's effectiveness is lessened, and yet… his body feels on fire. Despite that, he manages to hold on.

"Your Fire Style is indeed powerful. Had we fought several months ago, I would not stand a chance." Hinata approaches cautiously, her eyes closed from the sensory overload she experiences after using the Tenseigan. Normally that would not be side, but Gozu is here to aid her.

Isa stands up with great pain and backs up, still able to move with some trouble.

-x-

Seikai and Isa regroup, both battered more than they've been in years. It's at this moment that the Hidden Sand shinobi finally arrive. Maki and Sen spot who are involved and make their way toward them.

"Naruto! Hinata! What's happening here?! What do you think you're doing?!" Maki demands.

"Maki!" Naruto begins defending himself. "Hold on, it's not what it looks like, these guys attacked us!"

"The Miyoshi brothers? They wouldn't just attack out nowhere, Naruto." She turns to the brothers. "All of you are coming with me right now."

Seikai grunts and comes to his feet. "Those two," He points to his two targets, "Are wanted criminals. Guren of the Crystal Style and Gozu the Mudwall. Former Hidden Sound ninja. They've been under your nose this entire time, and the Hidden Leaf are protecting them. You don't get to act high and mighty after that much incompetence."

"What?" Sen turns around in shock. "Is that true?"

"I mean… yeah, kinda. But there's a whole lot more to it! Just hear us out, okay?"

"I said," Maki hisses in a harsh tone, "Everyone's coming with me. Object and every single shinobi here will attack. No matter who you are." She makes it a point to stare down Naruto and Hinata.

"Yeah, alright." Naruto lowers his guard.

When the scene calms down, only a select few notice a change in the air, or rather, in the sky. A third tomoe appears opposite the second one. One tomoe facing up, and another two lower and facing diagonally down. The same position as the Sharingan.

What even fewer people sense, however, is a voice. No longer muffled, no longer faint. Booming as if someone's shouting in your ear.

" _ **RELEASE ME!"**_

Naruto falls to his knees, holding his ears. He cries out in pain but two others do as well. Seikai and Isa hear the same voice and also reel in pain.

"What's that?!" Seikai cries out.

Isa grunts in pain. "My head's splitting…"

Naruto pants and looks up to them. "Wait. You guys can hear it, too?"

"Yeah, we can… Didn't everyone?"

Maki looks between the three of them. "The voice again? But I thought you could hear it 'cause of your Sage Mode. So why can-"

"Maki." Sen pats her team leader on the shoulder. "Look." She points up in the sky, to the three tomoe that now loom over them.

"Oh no." She takes a moment to gather her thoughts. "Okay, you lot, new plan. Seikai Miyoshi, Isa Miyoshi, your blatant disregard for civilian life will be put on hold for now. You're being recruited to help the Hidden Sand. Depending on how you do, your punishment may be reduced."

Seikai clicks his tongue. "As if I'd help the Sand…"

Isa steps forward and nods. "I'll help." He looks down to his elder brother before he can protest. "We got too hasty. We could've broken several of our codes but they fought us while also worrying for the people around them. Look. None of their techniques reached the buildings despite their scope." He motions to the crystal that encompasses the buildings to keep them safe from the Fire Style. "Let's go. It's like they said, it's no longer worth it."

"Tch. Fine." Seikai joins his brother, his voice of reason in many ways.

As they all gather themselves and are led away from the chaos. She was in the middle of escorting the Prism Keystone to a more secure location. Now, they need to double and even triple their efforts.

"Hey, Maki, you sure we can even trust these two?" Naruto points to the brothers with a thumb.

She sighs. "I don't know what exactly happened here, but they're well respected in the Land of Wind. They're not known for such behaviour." She gives them a scolding look.

They meet up with the group that was left behind with the Prism while Maki and the others go to see what the commotion was at the edge of town. To their surprise, the Prism is now completely see-through except for 3 tomoe that circle inside it.

"It changed again." Maki curses. "We need to act now."

When they do get near, something entirely unexpected happens. Seikai and Isa fall to their knees in pain, their white flames activating.

Naruto steps back in a defensive position. "I told you they can't be trusted!"

"This… isn't us." Isa manages to get through gritted teeth before crying out.

This time, everyone hears the voice that Naruto has been hearing for days.

"Akurojin. To think it would be you who frees Us."

The white flames and sucked into the Prism. Light envelops the entire area, blinding everyone. While their eyes are closed, they hear a cracking and shattering, followed by a release of force much grander than anything they've felt before. Many are blown away, unable to keep their footing and slam into nearby buildings or even each other.

When they finally open their eyes, they're met by an alien creature.

Humanoid in its general shape, save for the dark glow of… everything. Its skin, hair, clothes, everything is a dark shade, nearly as dark as the Prism was initially. The only other colour is a faint red outline that covers its entire body.

The creature floats in the air in a meditative of its arms are clasped together, another two hold a banner each, another two hold a longbow and arrow at the ready, and the final two are free. A total of 8 arms.

It opens its eyes, revealing a Sharingan in both eyes.

"W-what… is that thing?" Naruto stares in disbelief.

"We are at long last free of our accursed seal, Tamamo." It almost spits out the name as it says it. "And to think that the ones to accomplish that feat are three of your very own descendants." It looks toward Naruto, Seikai, and Isa. "Your lifeforce will fuel Us and your mortals will regret your blasphemy."

It embeds the banners in the ground. "This world will belong to the great Hachiman."

* * *

** Name meanings **

Seikai Miyoshi (三好 セイカイ, _Miyoshi Seikai_ ) = named after the legendary ninja of the same, and member of the Sanada Ten Braves.

Isa Miyoshi (三好 イサ, _Miyoshi Isa_ ) = named after the legendary ninja of the same, and member of the Sanada Ten Braves.

Akurojin (悪路神) = Akurojin-no-hi (Fire of the God of the Bad Road). A ghostly flame yokai, kind of like the Will-o'-the-wisp.

Hachiman (八幡) = Shinto deity. Hachiman no kami/ Hachiman-shin/ Yahata no kami.

** Trivia **

In the original draft from 8 years ago, the Miyoshi brothers' ages were reversed and their names were different. Isa's original name was Koichiro (虎一郎, _Koichirō_ ) = 'tiger' and 'first son' while Seikai's original name was Ryujiro (竜二郎, _Ryujirō_ ) = 'dragon' and 'second son'. I don't think I had a family name planned for them.

Funnily enough, Ryujiro/Seikai's ability to control his cloth was an idea from long before Maki and her Binding Cloth were introduced, so I just made it be the same ability. And Koichiro/Isa's Fuinjutsu that takes the form of a tiger was also an idea from before Sai displayed a similar ability.


	31. Chapter 31

**HIDDEN SAND CONVERGENCE V**

Naruto took the brunt of the explosion. His clothes and flak jacket are ripped and torn, his hair is dirty, and he was knocked out of Sage Mode. He looks at his surroundings. Everyone was blown away by the explosion and are getting back to their feet to the best of their abilities. Some were hit harder than others, especially the civilians who can't protect themselves like shinobi can.

The buildings have taken a heavy hit, as well, many of them beginning to crumble.

"Get the civilians out of here!" Maki orders at the top of her lungs, as the shinobi around her spring into action. She keeps her eyes on the bizarre eight-armed person floating in front of them. She's hurt and bleeding, but her Binding Cloth is already extended in preparation.

The same thought flashes across both Naruto and Hinata's minds. The kids. He's out of Sage Mode and not in a position to sit still long enough, and she's still feeling the effects of her Tenseigan. As they wrack their minds with worry, they hear Kotori's voice far in the distance.

"Mom! Dad!"

All three of them and Yukimaru run around a building to the back, trying to find where their mentors are. The moment they do, Naruto shouts loud enough for them to hear despite the distance.

"Don't get closer! Get outta here!"

"Yukimaru!" Guren holds her bleeding arm. "Go with the shinobi!"

The kids seem reluctant. They want to go to them but the entity in the air gives off a far too menacing aura. They know they shouldn't go.

Sen Flickers next to them and ushers them to go back. "Listen, we all have to do what we're best at. And our teachers are best at dealing with this, alright? Let's go."

The being that introduced itself as Hachiman points one of its banners to Seikai and Isa. "You will surrender more of your power to Us, Akurojin. Your flames, diluted as they are in the possession of these mortals, will be the spark of Our revenge." It lightly flicks the banner up and the two brothers begin floating.

"Wh-" Isa tries to use his mace as an anchor but it's no use.

Seikai quickly weaves his chakra into his Binding Cloth and wraps some it around his brother while he sends others flying to grab onto a nearby building. Before his cloth can wrap itself to pull them to safety, Hachiman flicks its banner toward itself and the brothers begin flying toward it, Seikai's cloth flying with them.

Before they can get too close, a long tongue flies past them and wraps around both of them, pulling them back until they no longer feel themselves pulled to the being. As they fall back, Naruto meets them mid-air, pressing his hands against their backs to prop them. It's now that they see the origin of the long tongue is Naruto himself, when he releases them and it returns to normal size and goes back where it belongs.

Seikai raises a brow. ".. You can do that?"

"Not now. Whatever that thing is, it clearly wants you two and I'm assuming you'd rather not."

"You guess correctly. Truce?" Isa looks back to the younger man.

"Truce." Naruto smiles. "Kurama. Let's go."

" _ **Finally."**_ Kurama grins inwardly. " _ **I've been growing bored."**_

Naruto clothes become enveloped in the more than familiar orange chakra. He instantly transfers chakra to the two brothers, with Isa's vest taking on the same orange properties, as well as Seikai's bandages. When Kurama's avatar fully materializes, the brothers begin feeling their chakra overflowing.

"So this is… the Nine Tails?" Seikai observes his wounds healing.

"My chakra… it's as if we hadn't just fought." Isa comments.

"Oi, Uzumaki, if you'd used this power earlier-"

Naruto cuts him off. "The town wouldn't have survived." He keeps his gaze focused on Hachiman.

The being's Sharingan swirls.

Kurama growls. " _ **Those eyes again…"**_

"Two of Tamamo's descendants who wield Akurojin's flames, and one who wields the Nine Tailed abomination. How curious this world has become in Our absence." Hachiman ponders.

"Hey, Kurama. I know I told you I'd give you time, but…"

" _ **I know. But even if you ask me, Tamamo never spoke of anything like this. Whatever she did to it either happened before I met her or after."**_ Kurama answers without even hearing the full question.

"Agh!" Naruto yells exasperated. "What's the point of being alive for a thousand years if you don't know anything that happened?!"

" _ **Well excuse me for having my own things to deal with!"**_

"It's moving." Seikai interrupts the spat as he notices Hachiman preparing to go on the offensive.

Kurama speeds forward diagonally in an attempt to reach it before it can do anything, but having the Sharingan means getting the jump on it is difficult.

**[Continuous Tailed Beast Bomb]**

Kurama fires a series of small bombs, at the very least as a diversionary tactic. Hachiman flicks its banners in quick succession to send them flying to the sides, completely missing it.

"That power… it almost feels like Nagato's repulsion and attraction…"

Kurama jumps up and brings all of his tails to the front, ready to slam down with their full force. Hachiman blocks all nine tails as they come crashing down, although the strength behind them forces it to lower its altitude, slightly struggling.

It draws its bow, a chakra arrow materializing not unlike Hinata's chakra weapons when using her Tenseigan. It fires from point blank range, completely eliminating 7 of the tails. Naruto and Kurama have only a moment to look on in surprise as to how easily their chakra form was disrupted, as they still have a jutsu to finish. The tails were mostly a cover. When Hachiman destroys 7 of the tails, it's now face to face with a large orb of black chakra ready to be shot at point blank, as well.

**[Tailed Beast Bomb]**

* * *

The explosion is seen, heard, and felt from a great distance. The people within town cry out in panic, thinking another blast will destroy their town but nothing comes. Many have been too absorbed in trying to escape and only now see the Nine Tailed Demon Fox battling this new threat.

Some of them are relieved that he's here to fight back, while others worry that this will spell their hometown's destruction.

Tayuri stares at the fight happening in the horizon, her breath shallow. Her mind's blocking out the cries around her. She was off for a walk when everything went to Hell. She clutches her shirt, her mind still processing the threat. She doesn't pay attention to the people running past or to the shinobi shouting orders. She's not sure if a voice finally did reach her or if it was the sudden appearance of a shadow, but she absentmindedly looks up just in time to see a large slab of concrete falling from a building right on top of her.

She can only let out a short gasp, her voice falling. She falls back in her attempt to get out of the way. She tries to cry out for help but only a whimper comes out.

Before the concrete falls on top of her, she feels something tug at her clothes. Once again she was too absorbed to notice it but it pulls her away from danger, tugging on her clothes and pushing her feet. The concrete falls and shatters to pieces just in front of her and once she manages to calm down, she takes a look at what saved her. Feathers. Embedded into the soles of her shoes and into her clothes; they were what pulled her away.

She looks around and sees Kotori land right next to her, hands forming the Bird seal.

**[Ninja Art Aviary: Sparrows]**

Half a dozen small birds appear and scatter in every direction, on the lookout. They enter each and every building, very audibly chirping at certain buildings. Hidden Sand shinobi Flicker through the windows of buildings where the sparrows chirp and come out carrying children or people unable to walk.

Tayuri looks at Kotori with a surprise. ' _She's… already in action, just like the shinobi…'_

Kotori holds out her hand. "Come on, we gotta get away."

Tayuri takes the hand without a moment's hesitation, still in awe of the other girl's actions. They run for a few moments before Tayuri realizes her hand is still being held as Kotori pulls her to safety. She retracts her hand, breaking from Kotori and holds her hand close to her chest, blushing with slight embarrassment. ' _Even though I want to be a ninja, I couldn't...'_

**[Crystal Style: Crystal Encampment Wall]**

Light blue crystals grow over nearby buildings just as they were ready to crumble and fall to the street. With their new support structure in place, Yokumaru looks around for any more unstable buildings, already sweating.

All the Crystal Walls he's made so far have been his height at most but now he created one that covers the first floors of the buildings. It's extremely draining on his chakra supply but he has to do it.

Even though they probably weren't supposed to, the kids were observing the earlier fight from a roof a safe distance away. He saw what Guren is capable of, what the Crystal Style is capable of in experienced hands. Looking back, he's really been slacking off in his training as far as his kekkei genkai is concerned, so he needs to pick it up.

With a firm resolve, he Flickers away to help.

As the girls continue to run, Kotori continues to send out her sparrows to look for people in need. Their duration isn't long as some are lost to falling debris. The moment she loses even one, she summons another batch, making her chakra reserves deplete at a faster rate.

From a nearby building, Tayuri hears a knocking. She stops, thinking someone might be in danger and is trying to get out but the wall soon begins to crack, as the thuds increase. Eventually it breaks and Shoto comes out from the building, clearing the smoke and dust, and civilians following him.

"Thank you. Thank you." The people express their gratitude to the boy before seeking safety.

She notices his hands are trembling but he tries to keep them steady.

Tayuri looks to all three in awe. ' _They're not even from here but are doing everything they can to save people. And I'm just standing here… Stupid, as if you can become a shinobi like this…'_

Kotori and Yokumaru are panting from chakra exhaustion, while blood drips to the ground from Shoto's bruised knuckles.

"Why… are you fighting?" She asks the three of them out loud.

"Because mom and dad are fighting, too." Kotori declares.

"They taught and showed us what it means to be a shinobi." Yokumaru adds.

"If we're to prove worthy of being their students, we can't do anything less." Shoto asserts.

In unison, they finish. "So we'll fight with everything we got!"

Tayuri clenches her fist, nails digging into her palm. "I'll help, too!" She proclaims.

Kotori looks back to her and grins. "Alright! Team Kotori, move out!"

"... We're not calling ourselves that."

* * *

The dust cloud still rages. Kurama's taken a stance, ready to pounce, after creating some distance. Hachiman roars and clears the dust by violently swinging both banners. It draws the bow once more and fires an arrow, sending it straight with great force to the point of kicking up sand as it travels toward Kurama's chakra avatar.

They swiftly dodge to the side expecting to be safe from it.

"Behind us!" Seikai calls out and brings Naruto's attention to that direction.

He sees that very same arrow following closely behind them.

"What? How?" He wonders.

Kurama dodges to the side again and this time they clearly see the projectile swerve mid-air and continue to follow them.

"Brother." Isa calls out and begins forming hand signs.

Seikai sees him and copies the motions, being all too familiar with the technique. He smirks. "This thing wants our power, it can have it."

**[Ninja Art Fire Style: Akurojin]**

The brothers channel their chakra through Kurama, mixing their jutsu with the avatar. Where previously Kurama had black stripes running all across his body, they're now white and burning with white flames. This gives them the boost in speed they needed to get slightly further ahead of the arrow but it's still gaining on them.

"Got a way to stop it, hero?" Seikai turns to Naruto.

"I just might." He answers.

Kurama stops in his tracks and faces the incoming arrow.

"Not what I had in mind!"

Kurama gathers energy in his palm, swirling raw chakra mixed in with the white flames of the Miyoshi brothers.

**[Sage Art Fire Style: Akurojin Rasengan]**

Naruto slams the empowered Rasengan into the arrow before it can hit them, creating a massive explosion, not unlike when Hachiman first appeared, that sends Kurama flying back. Fortunately, this time Naruto had run a fair distance from the town so no one was caught in the resulting blast.

When they get a better look at their surroundings, they're met by the sight of 4 more chakra arrows flying their way. Kurama's still lying on his back. Even with the power-up from the Miyoshis, these things are way too close. There's not enough time.

**[Crystal Style: Crystal Encampment Wall]**

**[Gentle Step: Chakra Spears]**

Two of the arrows are intercepted by different projectiles composed of chakra, ones Naruto's familiar with. They're not strong enough to stop them completely, but their course is thrown off so they completely miss their mark.

The other two arrows are halted by a crystalline shield that springs up front of them. The arrows hit and shatter it but they're also dispersed as a result.

Hachiman turns its gaze to the origin of the interruption. Guren's panting heavily and on the verge of fainting from using so much chakra while Hinata has to deactivate her Tenseigan and close her eyes from overuse. Gozu stands in front of both of them, ready to protect them.

"Insolent creatures. This does not concern you."

"That's where you're wrong." Hinata contests it. "If you're a threat to our world then it's our job to stop you."

"Then be the first to perish."

Hachiman draws the bow, creating three arrows, and fires at them. Kurama gets up to his feet and runs for them, but Hachiman was closer. The arrows will reach first.

"Hinata!" Naruto calls out in a panic, putting every bit of his strength into moving faster.

He channels powers from within, deep within. Deeper than Kurama. From the source of power that connects Kurama with his siblings. Given the current environment, one in particular makes sense.

The Manifestation of Sand, Shukaku.

Naruto draws strength from the One Tail's chakra. He hasn't used it a whole lot but now's a great time to learn. He focuses his chakra to Kurama's feet. When he steps on the sand, he uses Shukaku's abilities to propel them further ahead, shifting the sand forward to boost their speed.

It works.

Naruto rushes in and absorbs Hinata, Guren, and Gozu into Kurama's avatar and makes a run for it. As before, the arrows follow them but he already has a strategy that worked. Kurama jumps up and turns around, once again collecting chakra in his palms, this time adding whirling winds to the chakra and fire.

**[Sage Art Scorch Style: Akurojin Rasenshuriken]**

He throws the roaring mixture of Fire and Wind directly into the three arrows, resulting in yet another large blast of searing winds.

Naruto looks back to the new additions. "Don't think I've ever had this many people in on for a ride. Gettin' a little crowded." He channels his chakra into them, as well, giving their clothes a cloak of orange chakra. "Is everyone alright?"

"I'd depleted nearly all of my chakra but I'm fine now thanks to you and Kurama." She reaches to touch his shoulder, only now opening her eyes. Having her chakra restored helps with her sight but now to test whether her sight can help with this creature. "So, what do we know of it?"

'So, looks like you two have a bounty hunter of your own, huh?" Guren mocks the Miyoshi brothers.

"Shut it." Seikai snaps.

"So it would seem." Isa agrees with the statement.

"Hey, don't agree with her!"

"The same as Tamamo, constantly concerned with the lives of others." Hachiman scowls.

"Tamamo this, Tamamo that. Starting to get annoyed, y'know. What do we even have to do with this Tamamo!"

" _ **I told you, didn't I?"**_ Kurama's voice booms. " _ **The ones to seal away the Great Beasts, and apparently this thing, were the descendants of the Uzumaki clan. So if Tamamo sealed him away..."**_

Naruto takes in the information for a moment. "You mean she's an Uzumaki?!"

" _ **Well, her children were but let's go with 'yes'."**_

"Then… what about these two?" Naruto looks back to Seikai and Isa.

" _ **No clue."**_

"I suppose we ARE related through our father." Seikai shrugs.

"Asuka Uzumaki." Isa confirms.

"WAIT WHAT?!" He completely turns out in surprise. "Why didn't you say something?!"

"Wasn't important until now."

Kurama goes on the move to dodge another volley of arrows, putting Naruto off balance although it's not entirely possible for him to fall in his current position.

" _ **You can talk about it later. Now focus!"**_

"Naruto, leave them to me." Hinata opens her eyes, revealing the flower pattern in her cyan eyes.

**[Tenseigan]**

Purple flame-like chakra now surrounds Kurama's avatar form, joining with the white fire from the two brothers. This time, instead of materializing around Kurama's hands, the chakra spears materialize around two of his tails. Hinata takes control of those tails and flicks them to fire her spears to intercept the arrows. One manages to get through but is dealt with by a third spear.

"I think they're getting stronger." Hinata surmises.

"No." Gozu corrects her. "It's not that it's getting stronger. It's regaining its strength."

"Semantics won't help us right now." Guren looks to her partner. "Come on, we can't just remain as passengers, can we?"

"No, I suppose not."

**[Earth Style: Rock Armour]**

**[Crystal Style: Crystal Armour]**

Both Guren and Gozu channel their own chakra through Kurama, crystalline structures appearing all over his body while the earth below them rises and covers parts of his body.

Kurama's form becomes surrounded in armour composed of mixing both their elemental ninjutsu. While the torso is dominantly crystal and the arms and legs- dominantly earth, no part has only one element. They've combined their abilities to create an impenetrable armour.

"Hah, now that's what I'm talking about!" Naruto cheers and jumps in the air to slam down on Hachiman.

Guren creates a smaller crystalline shape in Kurama's hand. A sword hilt. Hinata channels her Tenseigan to create a chakra sword emerging from it. The Miyoshi brothers send their unique Fire Style through, setting the new sword ablaze with white fire, which is finally strengthened by Naruto's Wind Style. The white fires create a large curtain of flames that's sent swinging down with full force.

"I take it back. THIS is what I'm talking about."

Naruto engages Hachiman in a close quarters duel but the eight arms fend off his assault.

This entire time, two of Hachiman's arm have been pressed together in a meditative state, but it finally separates them, creating a long pole of chakra. When its hands finally separate fully, a glaive appears in its hand, of similar make to its bow and arrows.

"We will take our rightful place!" It proclaims and engages with the glaive, sending powerful strike after powerful strike. "Amaterasu!" Downward swipe. "Kotoamatsumaki!" Side swipe. "Takemikazuchi!" Glaive clashes with sword. Kurama struggles for a bit but is eventually sent flying back with great force, skidding across the sand. "They will all pay for betraying Us and you shall do nothing to stop Us, descendants of Tamamo."

"Those names…" Naruto mostly recognizes the first two.

"They're the names of the Mangekyo Sharingan's abilities." Hinata confirms his suspicions.

"They're jutsu but why's it talking like they're people?" He questions.

"Hrm." Isa ponders. "The way it talked about our Akurojin made it sound like a person, as well."

"Yeah, I was meaning to ask, what even IS your ability that it would want it?"

The conversation is put on a brief pause as Hachiman goes on the offensive again. Combining glaive with bow attacks with great ease and even trying to grapple with its remaining free hands.

Seikai grunts, trying to focus on both the fight and the explanation. "The Miyoshi clan has a unique Fire Style as you clearly saw for yourself. Stories of olde tell that our ancestors made a pact with a fire demon. Always thought that was just an exaggerated way of saying our elders were really powerful, but…"

Isa nods in agreement. "It sounds like an actual pact may have actually been made. It's not just a special Fire Style jutsu, but powers from an entity, probably similar in nature to this one that calls itself Hachiman."

Another arrow is intercepted by the Tenseigan's chakra spears.

Hachiman flies in, arms and weapons at the ready. Its speed and strength have been steadily increasing, but they're managing so far.

It uses both glaive and arrow to strike, and 4 of its arms to hit but the crystal and earth armour is proving difficult to crack as whatever damage is dealt is immediately fixed. This continues for an extended time, each trading blows but not landing a significant hit. With each strike, Hachiman damages the armour more and more to the point where Guren and Gozu can't mend it in time.

Kurama swings his nine tails to counter its eight arms, striking and pushing them away but Hachiman grabs hold of them and swings Kurama in the air, ready to throw him into the distance. Before it can leg go, Guren gets an idea.

She sends her Crystal Style chakra through the tails and connects Kurama's tails to Hachiman's hands via the crystals. When Kurama is sent flying, Hachiman is unable to let go and goes with him, but having the ability to fly quickly gathers itself and shatters the bindings. Kurama thuds on the ground with much less force he would've originally.

"Nice save, Guren!" Naruto gives a thumbs up.

"Not outta the woods yet, kid." She warns.

Hachiman grows visibly angier. Where previously it had a haughty, arrogant expression, it's beginning to show annoyance with the constant defiance. It raises its banners high above its head and violently swings them down.

The gravitational force is several times greater than anything it showed before. Rather than Nagato's Rinnegan abilities, this feels closer to the dimension Kaguya sent them. Kurama can't stand up. The others don't feel the effects as much due to the protection of the chakra avatar but their bodies are much heavier, as well.

Hachiman draws the bow and begins gathering chakra. It's denser and more concentrated than before. This is a kill shot. They won't be able to survive a hit and they can't move.

"Damnit, come on!" Naruto urges. "We can't let it win here!"

-x-

For but a moment, Naruto is sent to his mindspace. Nine torii gates positioned in a circle, with him in the middle. Kurama lies beneath the gate numbered "9".

From the gate marked "1", sand fills the ground, inching its way closer to the center, a sandstorm raging behind it.

From the gate marked "7", a faint buzzing sound can be heard, growing louder. Hundreds of scales dance in the air, reflecting the light that seems to be omnipresent in this place.

Naruto smirks.

Kurama clicks his tongue. " _ **They can't just stop butting in, can they?"**_

-x-

"We only gotta hold it off for a bit longer, guys! Back-up's coming." He warns his companions.

"I… might have an idea." Guren focuses her chakra to the Crystal Style sword hilt. "Can you at least aim the sword at it?"

He grunts. "I can try. Whatcha thinkin'?"

She smirks. "A special property of my Crystal Style." The hilt's shape begins shifting and moving, the crystals' very structure changing. "I've found I can use it a great many ways, not limited just to crystals. I'll make it into a glass hilt."

"And how's that supposed to help us in this situation?" Seikai urges for an answer, their time running short.

"Come, you look like the type that burned ants as a kid."

"He was." Isa nods.

"Will you stop th-" He begins yelling at his brother but stops. "Hold on, you mean…?"

Guren only smiles in response.

**[Crystal Style: String of Glory]**

The intense desert sun's rays quickly gather in the glass hilt, growing only more intense because of the unique properties of the jutsu. This is not just ordinary glass.

From the hilt, going through the chakra blade enveloped with scorching white fires, a beam of light bursts forth, directly hitting Hachiman in the eyes. It cannot react in time. The Sharingan can follow movement but not light. It violently twists in pain, the chakra it'd been gathering until now disperses itself, and tries to break away but Guren keeps the light positioned on it for as long as she can. The gravitational pull ends and Kurama is free to move, just in time, too, as Guren's jutsu runs out.

Hachiman growls in pain. "You… You… INSTOLENT INSECTS!" Its face and most of its body is burned, visibly despite its onyx black skin. It goes to swing its banners once more. In its rage, it does not see the approaching presences.

**[Tail Sting]**

" _ **Don't think I've been called insolent before. That's a new one!"**_

From above, a large armoured insect flies down with great speeds, impaling it with his tail. Six grand wings flapping violently releasing small glittering scales.

**[Scale Powder]**

The scales reflect the sun, causing the entire area to flash brightly. Hachiman is once again blinded and does not see the sand moving underneath.

It gathers in a large wave that washes over it once Chomei brings in his tail.

**[Desert Layered Imperial Funeral Seal]**

A sand pyramid encompases an area larger than a Tailed Beast, more than enough to cover Hachiman's body.

Chomei and Shukaku move to stand besides Kurama.

" _ **No one asked for your help."**_ Kurama growls.

" _ **Is that any way to talk to someone coming to save you?"**_ Shukaku argues.

" _ **As if I'd need saving from a single tailed rat!"**_

" _ **I'm not a rat, you mutt! If you're so strong, why do you need so much protection, huh?!"**_ Shukaku motions to the armour Kurama's form is adorned with.

" _ **Why you…"**_

Chomei sighs. " _ **How ya doin', Naruto?"**_

"Better now that we have back-up. You guys think that can..."

" _ **Hrmmm."**_ Shukaku grumbles. " _ **I don't think it can."**_

" _ **Of course it can't be held by a weakling like this one."**_ Kurama is as indignant as always.

"Oi, will you two knock it off!" Naruto reprimands them. "Sand's moving."

The sealing pyramid bursts, revealing Hachiman with an absolutely furious expression. It seems to have healed from its injuries.

It swings its banners sending Shukaku and Chomei flying to the side and charges at Kurama. As it does, it draws the bow, sending three arrows flying at each of them. Then three more. And another three. If keeps firing them in quick succession, but a combination of Hinata's chakra spears and Shukaku's send stops them to the best of their abilities.

"We need to get rid of that bow."

Shukaku sends sand to attack it from all sides, Chomei continues to be a nuisance from above, while Kurama takes care of the front, engaging with the fire blade. Hachiman finds itself in a more precarious position.

It uses its free arms and bow to keep the other two at bay while countering the blade with its glaive. Its movements are more precise than before, giving Naruto some trouble with dodging. They keep fighting like this, each swing of the glaive moving unnaturally. Like it doesn't matter where they are or how they dodge, the glaive finds its way to them. Until it finally dawns on them. It's not just the arrows that can follow them relentlessly. The glaive can, as well.

' _Every Sharingan has unique abilities. Sasuke and Itachi's black flames, Kakashi-sensei and Obito's teleportation… Does his Sharingan have something similar? But it's not even the Mangekyo…'_

Naruto sees an opening. With a combination of sand and tails holding back Hachiman's arm, he has the perfect chance to strike. Taking a precise swing, he cuts off two of Hachiman's right arms, sending them flying in the sand a fair distance away. The bow is also sent away.

Two of Hachiman's hands immediately clasp each other as they were in the beginning but Naruto's swing forces it to move its hands.

"Last time you had your hands like that, you created that annoying glaive. Don't think I'll let you do it again!"

"You do not have the ability to 'let' Us do anything. We are Hachiman! We-"

It's interrupted by Seikai expels from his mouth, and by extension Kurama's mouth, an extraordinarily large sea of white flames.

**[Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation]**

Seeing this, Naruto decides to add fuel.

**[Sage Art: Toad Oil Bomb]**

As if it was possible, the Akurojin grows even hotter as he spews oil from Mount Myoboku into the fire. The intense flames grow more intense and expand, reaching a much larger area than before.

The sand around them turns to glass.

Before the flames can die down, the glaive flies from within them, impaling Shukaku who'd been standing guard to the side, keeping away from the frontlines to keep a better idea of the battlefield and manipulate his sand accordingly. The glaive moved at a much greater speed than any of the arrows before and struck the Tanuki in the chest.

He clutches the wound and tries to take out the weapon but before he can do that, it begins moving.

As the fire finally subsides, Hachiman stands firm. Wounded and angry. It flicks its wrist that holds the banner and the glaives moves accordingly, tearing at Shukaku's body before exiting the wound and flying back to its owner.

"Shukaku!" Naruto calls out, worried.

Hachiman plants both banners in the ground.

Everyone falls to their knees. The pressure doesn't even begin to compare to before. They're all on their knees, struggling to keep themselves up despite still being protected by Kurama's chakra form.

"Guren..." Naruto mutters.

"I'm... trying..." She tries to weave her chakra as she did before but it's more difficult now. She's not sure if she can do it in time.

* * *

Somewhere in the Land of Wind, a group of people stand over a sea of corpses. An entire town destroyed, everyone inside it dead. Civilians and shinobi line the ground surrounding a shattered crystals, remnants of red writing lining its eight sides.

One man in particular stands amidst the corpses. Spiky red hair reaching past his shoulders, giant axe as large as himself by his side. He's surrounded by shinobi dressed the same way as him- green clothing and dark green flak jackets. Headbands of the Hidden Mountain Village. All with hair of varying shades of red.

"My brothers and sisters," The man with the axe addresses the others, "You will now witness one of the many secrets our ancestors were too afraid of; one of the many reasons we fell to ruin."

Kaidomaru Uzumaki slams his hands on the ground.

**[Ninja Art Summoning: Rashomon]**

* * *

"We gave you warnings aplenty. You were given the choice to not oppose Us and yet you chose to stand against Us in a futile attempt of bravery. Your entire bloodline is naught but insolence, Tamamo. We will take great pleasure in purging Our land of your vile presence once-" It stops talking, sensing something in the distance. "That… Can it be?" It asks no one in particular. "This presence… Home…"

Hachiman grabs its banners and disappears from sight. Without a single word, without even finishing its boasting, or without even finishing them off. As if it even forgot what it was doing.

Free from the pressure, Naruto drops Kurama's avatar form and they all breathe heavily or coughing.

Guren looks around in a panic. "What… what just happened? Why did it stop?"

"I… don't know. It said… home?" Naruto looks for any trace of the entity, finding none.

"That means we're safe, right?" Seikai stands up to his feet. "It doesn't need our Akurojin anymore?"

Naruto gives Hinata a helping hand up. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." She had to immediately close her eyes, following the Tenseigan's cancellation but otherwise she's unhurt. "We were as good as dead. Had it attacked us right then…"

"Yeah. I dunno what happened but it lost interest quick."

"We can't let our guard down." Gozu warns them. "It may decide to return just as easily as it decided to leave."

Guren smiles warmly and kisses him on the forehead. "Ever the worrier. But before we'll have to worry about that thing coming after us, there was someone else after us." She looks back to the two brothers.

Seikai, still sitting on the ground, sighs. "No, I think we're done. Not in the mood anymore. You can keep your head."

Isa brushes the sand off his clothes. "This has already been more than we ever bargained for."

She scoffs. "I'll believe when I see your backs leaving."

Naruto makes his way to Shukaku. "You alright?" He gestures to the gaping wound.

" _ **Ha! This? This is nothing for the great me!"**_ The tanuki proudly proclaims.

Chomei flies over and lightly pokes Shukaku on the belly with his tail, the tanuki wincing in return. " _ **Not fine, ain'tcha?"**_

" _ **I expected that from that blasted fox but you, too, Chomei?"**_

" _ **Don't go overdoin', kay?"**_

Naruto chuckles. "Maybe the people in town can heal you?" He looks back to where they'd been staying for the past few days.

" _ **We don't need help from humans. We'll just go before we cause a ruckus. Bye."**_ Shukaku begins sliding across the sand, being in too much pain to move by himself.

"Ah, okay. Goodbye." Naruto waves.

" _ **See ya!"**_ Chomei flies off, as well.

With everything settling down for now, the group begins making their way back to town, as well. To discuss whatever it is that just happened, and plan for the future.

* * *

Back in town, before they get too far, Naruto and Hinata see Kotori, Yokumaru, Shoto, and Yukimaru running towards them at full speed. Or at the very least, the full speed their current exhausted state can allow them to run.

Naruto pats Kotori on the head as she skids to a halt in front of him. "Hey there, kiddo."

"You did it! You beat it!" She sounds excited.

"Weeeeell. In a way."

"Did you not?" Shoto tilts his head.

"It ran away." Hinata smiles at them. "Sometimes it happens, you won't always defeat your foe."

"So," Yokumaru grips the seams of his clothes, "It'll come back?"

"Maybe. Maybe not." Naruto kneels down to be eye level with him. "The important thing is, we know it's around so we can prepare for it if it does. That's an important part of being a shinobi- learning from your past experience. Next time we'll get it." He grins which reassures Yokumaru.

"Were you all safe?" Hinata asks.

"More than safe! We helped!" Kotori hops in place.

"Oh?"

"They were a great help." A deep male voice calls to them from behind.

They look up to see Sangen and Tayuri walking toward them along with their respective parents. Sangen's father nods as a greeting. Yukimaru immediately runs to hug Guren and Gozu.

"Welcome back." He says, face buried in Guren's vest.

The two smile. "We're back."

"You've found some fine students." Sangen's father addresses Naruto and Hinata.

"We had help, too!" Kotori grins to Tayuri, waving enthusiastically.

Tayuri quickly whips her head to the side, looking away shyly, trying to hide a smile.

"Alright, let's go see if anything else needs doing." Naruto stands up and begins making his way further into the village.

"What?" Guren looks at him in disbelief. "All of THAT wasn't enough for you?"

He looks back to her. "It's not about enough. The town needs help."

She shakes her again. "You're so…" she trails off.

Gozu takes her hand in his much larger hand. "We should help, too."

"This is our home, after all." Yukimaru looks up to her.

"Yeah." She smiles. "I suppose it is."

"Guren. Gozu." An unfamiliar voice calls to them. Everyone looks around to see the area swarmed with ANBU on the rooftops and behind corners, wearing the uniforms of both the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Sand. "You're coming with us." A woman steps forward. Cat-like mask with a red vertical stripe on the forehead and a horizontal striped on each cheek, long purple hair swaying in the wind.

The kids press closer to each other,

"Hah." Seikai chuckles. "Sometimes sweeping in on our mark."

"Not on our mark anymore." Isa corrects him.

Naruto steps in front of them. "What do you want with them?"

"This doesn't concern you, Naruto Uzumaki." The purple haired haired woman speaks.

Naruto scowls. "You don't tell me what concerns me."

"Naruto, don't." Guren places a hand on his shoulder. "Don't get into trouble with your people."

Naruto keeps his eyes focused on the ANBU. "And why exactly do you need them, huh?"

"Naruto." She extends her hand trying to calm him. "Please step away from them. We'll apprehend the criminals and take them into custody."

"No. Go home." He declares.

"Please don't make this more difficult than it needs to be."

"I think there's something you're not getting here." Naruto steps forward and gets in the ANBU's face. Or, mask. "We just fought a ridiculously powerful… thing… that wouldn't have been possible without Guren and Gozu. You couldn't have gotten here without seeing the battle so I'm assuming you just hid and waited for the real fight to finish because you knew you couldn't be of any help." He pauses and looks at all of them. "Your job's to stop criminals, right? Well, they've stopped. They're no longer with Orochimaru, they're no longer doing anything that needs your attention. So go home and tell Granny Tsunade and Gaara that they're wasting their time." He turns to one ANBU in particular who has his hand on his sword. "And you. Put that sword back or I'll put it somewhere else. I'm seriously not in a good mood right now."

He unleashes his chakra. A sensation unlike anything they've ever felt, a sensation worthy of one who channels the incarnation of hatred. Their knees buckle from the killing intent their way.

He stops once he hears a yelp from behind and sees Kotori hiding behind Hinata, who simply shakes her head pleading him to stop. He does.

The female ANBU straightens herself.

"They're under my protection." Naruto adds.

One of the Hidden Sand ANBU steps forward and removes his mask, a normally forbidden gesture. The man has a veil covering the left side of his face and two fang-like markings under his right eye. Naruto vaguely remembers him from the Chunin Exams long ago.

"I believe the hero of the war can be given some leeway, no?" Baki addresses the joint ANBU. "If you so wish, Naruto Uzumaki, we can leave these two in your care. Let them be your responsibility. All I ask is that they come with you to the Hidden Sand and we can talk there about their future. Peacefully." He turns to the Leaf ANBU. "Would that be agreeable for you?"

She glances back to two of her team in particular. A man with grey hair tied in a side ponytail and several kunai strapped to his thigh, and a woman with her blonde hair kept up by six needles. They seem to come to a wordless agreement.

"Very well. We'll leave it to the Kazekage for now." She looks to Naruto. "And to you."

Naruto consults Guren and Gozu. "Is that fine with you?"

They share a look. "Not like we have much of a choice, do we? We've been had. But if it's with you, we'll go. Peacefully." She makes it a point to add, looking at Baki.

"Then we're done here." Naruto walks past the Leaf ANBU, followed very reluctantly by the rest of his group.

Baki approaches the Leaf shinobi. "Thank you for agre-"

"Don't talk to me." Yugao cuts him off and leaves with her team.

"Right. Of course."

* * *

**Name meanings**

Asuka Uzumaki (うずまき アスカ, Uzumaki Asuka)= named after Japan's largest passenger ship, also a common unisex given name.


	32. Chapter 32

HIDDEN SAND CONVERGENCE VI

Despite saving the town and chasing away the being known as Hachiman, the group still was reprimanded. Endangering civilian lives, destruction of property, fighting within town premises. They were handed a hefty fine, which was slightly lessened for their assistance. Naruto and Hinata, and the Miyoshis were able to pay it off just fine, having the funds for it, although the Leaf shinobi would have this incident on their records. Guren and Gozu, on the other hand, are in a bit of a bind as they do not have the ability to pay.

On their way out of the building where they were reprimanded, Naruto makes an offer.

"We could pay it for ya, y'know."

"As if I'd take your money, you fool." Guren waves it off. "We got into this mess, we'll get out of it. Somehow."

Gozu nods. "We've already inconvenienced you enough."

"It was largely our fault, as well." Hinata looks apologetically. "We never noticed the Miyoshis tailing us."

"Of course not, we professionals." Seikai boasts. "Besides, you were acting kinda suspicious, hero. So we tailed you just in case."

Naruto grumbles.

"It's fine." Guren sighs. "We'll think of something."

"Although our lives won't be the same anymore." Gozu adds.

"We'll deal with that, too."

When they make their way outside, they don't get too far before they're stopped by a group of townsfolk. Guren and Gozu tense up. Their cover's blown. They've lost their home. Just as they'd finally settled down and started a life for themselves, just as they'd gotten comfortable. Should've known better.

One man takes a step forward and extends his hand, revealing a pouch.

Guren looks confused.

"We heard 'bout what happened. Heard you were in trouble, so we pitched in what we could."

Guren looks even more confused. "Wha-what're you talking about?"

A woman from the group answers. "You have a fine to pay, don't you? We just... wanted to help."

Everyone nods in agreement.

"But… you said you heard what happened. You know I've been lying to you all this time! We're wanted criminals!" She lowers her head, face hidden by her bangs. Her breath becomes shallow and she can feel her emotions overwhelm her.

"Maybe, but you're also our friends." Another woman speaks up. "You've helped us a lot these past months. Helped manage our lands, helped with our kids…"

"I'll be honest, we were scared when we first heard." A tall man steps up. "Was angry we were lied to, but… you've had your reasons for it, I'm sure, and you two've never wronged us. Then we remember how you've treated Yukimaru and that's not something you can fake easily. Figure… what's passed is past."

The man holding the pouch of money takes another step. "Please, take it."

Guren reaches over with her shaking hand, placing it over the pouch but not taking it yet.

"The shinobi've been talking lately. About bandits who just up and disappeared when they were nearby. That was you two, wasn't it? Keeping us safe."

Guren nods in response.

"Thank you." The man smiles.

Gozu comes by Guren's side and wraps an arm around her in a hug, his other hand clasping over Guren's as they take the pouch. "Thank you."

Naruto and Hinata smile at the display.

Isa nods. "A good end to it all."

"That's one way to put it." Seikai continues walking past the gathering, to the local inn.

* * *

While the adults were getting reprimanded, the kids have actually been hard at work. They volunteered to help out with some minor cleanup duty, not being allowed to do anything more strenuous. Carrying lighter items to and fro, delivering orders and supplies.

Kotori in particular is handling most of the deliveries, using her conjured birds to help her, with Yukimaru eagerly helping her. Shoto is using his Earth Style to help where he could to even the ground or raise support, with Yokumaru being delegated to a similar position.

Sangen, Tayuri, and their parents are also around and keeping an eye on them while their parents/parental figures are being reprimanded. Sangen's family may have retired from active duty but they're still Genin of the Hidden Sand. That's not something you can just stop. With their chakra strings, normally used for puppetry, they can lift some heavier objects up with some difficulty. Sangen can't lift anything like bricks or beams of wood, but something lighter is completely within his capabilities. Tayuri, meanwhile, has her trusty Binding Cloth which she's been using to wrap around items and lift them for the workers. Her cloth isn't that large, it's similar in size to Seikai's wrappings but made of much lighter material and are clearly not as strong or durable, but this is how much she can control at her current level.

In the distance, Maki has also been going around making sure work is being done and helping out herself on the rare occasion. From the roof of one building, she spots Tayuri trying to lift a pile of bricks with a Cloth that's too heavy for her to lift but she keeps trying regardless, putting a strain on herself and her cloth.

Maki Flickers over just as Tayuri lets it slip, the different bricks scattering and falling to the ground. The Jounin sends her Cloth and creates a cushion, collecting them gently before wrapping them in the cloth and lifting them all up.

"Ah, I- I'm sorry." Tayuri lowers her head.

"It's alright. Just be careful next time, alright?" Maki kneels down to reassure the girl. While there, she does get a closer look at the cloth. She takes it in her hands, rubbing it between her fingers to get a feel for the texture. "This is thinner than normal."

Tayuri's shoulder stiffen. "Mom and dad… couldn't get a better one." She says in a meek voice but then lifts her gaze to look at Maki. In a panicked voice she says, "Ah, but when I become a shinobi, they said they'll get a proper Binding Cloth! I won't- I won't make a mistake again."

"Oh? So you want to be a shinobi, huh?" Tayuri nods in confirmation. Maki smiles and takes out one of her scrolls. She lays it out on the roof and slams her palm on the markings, getting something out of storage- a slightly bigger scroll. It's not as big as the one she usually carries on her back but it's of similar design and make. "Why don't you use this for now?"

Tayuri looks it over. "Is this…"

"A Binding Cloth? It is. Use it instead, alright? And when we get back home, find me. We can work on your technique." Maki winks and goes to help elsewhere.

Tayuri looks at the cloth, mouth agape. "I promise I'll give it back in one piece!" She declares.

"Ah, about that. Give it back when you become a full fledged shinobi, alright? It's yours until then."

Tayuri stares and tightly clutches onto her cloth, hugging it with both arms.

* * *

Eventually, they all make their way to that same inn, the Miyoshi brothers already sitting at a table and nursing their drinks. The other four sit down with them, after ordering their own drinks, and Seikai leans back in his chair.

"So, you wanted to talk, hero?"

"You know exactly about what. You said your father's an Uzumaki."

"Yeah, what of it? You want a big ol' family reunion or something?" Seikai remains dismissive.

"Brother."

Seikai sighs. "Fine."

"Listen, you heard that thing out there, didn't you? It was out for you two, it was out for Tamamo's descendants. The Uzumaki clan. We don't know where it went or ultimately what it even wants. You still aren't safe, none of us are. But if we work together…"

Isa leans forward, in contrast to his elder brother. "I understand your concerns, but the Miyoshi clan is not one to accept help. I don't know how much you know about us, but we're one of the few clans to not officially be part of a Hidden Village. We're affiliated with the Land of Wind but that's it. We've maintained this stance through multiple wars and smaller conflicts and that's not about to change."

"But you're members of the Uzumaki clan!"

"AND of the Miyoshi clan. We were born Miyoshi, raised as Miyoshi, by Miyoshi. That's not going to change. Your concern is noted and appreciated but our clan won't change the life we've fought decades for."

Naruto lowers his head. "Right, sorry. That was inconsiderate of me. But, still, do you think I could at least talk to your father? I promise I won't bother him with it, I just… want to ask what he knows about the Uzumaki clan."

"'Fraid that's not possible." Seikai takes a swig of his drink. "He died years ago."

"Oh.. I didn't know, I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He shrugs. "Man died where he spent most of his life."

"... Home?" Naruto guesses.

"No. Inside a woman."

Guren spits her drink and has a coughing fit.

"Umm… What?"

"Oh, yeah, he was our father in name only, really. Stayed with our mom long enough to have us two then moved on. We have like a dozen half-siblings that we know of, probably more we don't know of."

"So he died…" Hinata trails off.

"While trying to make us another half-sibling, yeah. Got a heart attack in the middle of it." Seikai looks over to his brother. "But he still managed to give us one, right?"

Isa nods. "Kuri, 14 years old."

"He's like a ghost baby." Seikai laughs.

"Don't call him that. He's a good kid, from what I've heard."

"How… How old was he when he died?" Guren can't help but ask.

"Hmm." Isa racks his brain. "In his hundreds, I believe. He was in his 80s when he fathered us."

"Riight." Naruto shakes that information off. "Well, listen, if something ever comes up, call on the Hidden Leaf. Someone I know is gathering remnants of the Uzumaki clan, trying to get everyone together in the same place but he doesn't have contact with everyone and he's lost contact with some."

Isa nods. "We'll get in touch should the need arise."

"But don't count on it." Seikai finishes his drink and slams his mug on the table. "Now, if that's all, we best be off."

"Going already?" Naruto looks between the two of them.

"We gotta make up for lost time and money. You got no idea how expensive it was to track down these two," Seikai motions to Guren and Gozu, "And now we had to pay even more on top of it, with nothing in return. We have a reputation to keep." He stands up and heads for the door.

Isa rises, as well, but gives a light bow to them. "Until we meet again."

When the two of them leave, the remaining four reposition themselves on the table to not be so clustered together and sit with more breathing space. They order some more drinks, with Guren especially getting the most alcoholic beverage they have.

Not long after, the kids all rush in, once again making the table barely fitting everyone but they manage.

"Sooo, we're gonna stay here for now?" Kotori asks, looking around.

The ground floor is a tavern but the stairs at the back lead up the multistoried building where there're rooms for any weary travelers.

"Yeah. Since the barracks got wrecked in the blast, we'll be here 'til we finish our mission."

"You three behave in your room, alright?" Hinata warns. "We're not the only ones here, so be mindful."

"Understood." They say in unison.

"I know Yokumaru and I can be mindful, but…" Shoto only glances over to Kotori, taking an unusually long sip from his juice.

"What's that supposed to mean, hmm?" She leans on the table, squinting her eyes at him.

"If you don't know, I won't tell you."

"I know what you mean, I was just being-" She clasps her hands over her mouth, realising she'd begun to raise her voice.

Shoto smirks. "See?"

Kotori grumbles.

Yokumaru tries to play mediator while the rest of them laugh at the display.

After some time of small talk with the occasional silence, Guren brings up an elephant in the room. "So, what's to happen to us when we go to the Hidden Sand?"

Naruto rubs his head. "Well, I'll try to talk Gaara into letting you guys go and hopefully we can get Granny Tsunade on the same page and then..." He pauses to look at Yokumaru, "I was thinking if you'd agree to come to the Hidden Leaf."

Guren raises a brow while Gozu keeps his usually stoic expression.

Yukimaru is over the moon at the prospect. "Can we, Guren? Then, we can all be together!"

"I… don't know. Going to a hidden village, especially the Leaf, after everything that happened…"

"I told you I'd talk with them. I'll make whatever arrangements are needed. You guys've spent a lotta time running and hiding, I figure it's maybe time to stop, y'know? You've been through a lot, you deserve to leave in peace."

Guren looks at him, then to Yukimaru, and then to Yokumaru. She'd spent so long relying on herself and trying to rise to the top of the ladder. When her mother died at such a young age, when she was taken under Orochimaru's wing, she'd practically given up leading an ordinary life. It was always about overcoming adversity and never trusting anyone.

Then Yukimaru and Gozu came along and gave her hope once again. She found people to love and a place to call home. A family. And now her real family has resurfaced in Naruto's student. It almost seems too good to be true, like she's being tested before everything gets snatched away again.

She takes a lot at Yokumaru. Her cousin has been silent but she can see his demeanor- face lowered, tense shoulders. He obviously wants to say something but is worried. Maybe he doesn't want to come off as pushy. She seemed kind of meek.

She sighs. "Yeah, alright. If your Hidden Leaf will take us in, then we'll come with."

Yokumaru lifts his head, a bright smile on his face. Guren's guess was right, he did want to say something. "Then… we can be like a family, right?"

"Not 'like', kid. We are a family." She pats the silverhaired boy on the head and turns to Yukimaru. "Guess you better get used to having him as an uncle." She chuckles.

"Uncle?" Yukimaru tilts his head.

"Yeah, he's my first cousin, so that makes him your uncle even though you're older."

Yukimaru chuckles nervously. "That might get a bit confusing."

"Yeah, well, we'll have time to figure it out, yeah?" She smiles.

* * *

That evening, Naruto and Hinata go to their room while the kids go to theirs. Guren's household is still intact as it was far enough away from the blast but it's nowhere near enough to house extra people.

NWith Naruto sitting on the couch, Hinata is lying on her side snuggling against his shoulder. "It's nice to have quiet. It feels like these disasters keep following us."

He chuckles, rubbing her shoulder. "I think they are. But we keep winning, and we'll keep doing it 'til we have to."

"And the kids. They really stepped up, despite their inexperience. It's only been so long but they've grown a great deal." She giggles. "I'm really proud of them."

"Yeah, me, too. I can't imagine these past few months without 'em. I'm glad things turned out as they did. That said, it IS nice to get a few evenings to ourselves." He leans down to kiss the top of her head.

She moves to look up to him, a knowing smile on her lips. "Oh? Were you thinking of something in particular?" She slides up from her lying position, pressing herself against his arm.

"I might have an idea or two."

"Only two?" She turns over and straddles him. She places her arms to rest on his shoulder, very deliberately pressing her breasts tighter together right in front of him.

Naruto is caught completely off-guard. The meek and dignified Hinata is now showing a side he'd never seen and never even imagined he'd see from her. More confident and even sultry, even her voice and tone has nothing in common with before. He wasn't about to start complaining.

She leans down and passionately kisses him. She runs her fingers through his hair, pulling on his golden locks.

He runs his hands over her back, from her shoulders inching lower and lower until he reaches her lower where he moves his hands under her shirt. He then moves his hands up, to remove the cloth that's getting in the way.

It's then that their moment is interrupted by a voice by the window. "Um.."

They hastily spring from their position, but it takes them a moment to get their bearings given what moment was interrupted. They were so absorbed in it, they never sensed anyone there. As they take defensive stance, they understand why they didn't hear this person.

By the window stands a man, his clothes obscured by a heavy brown cloak. A sash tied around his head keeps his black hair at bay, letting his hair frame his face, falling under his chin, with a single strand of hair fall between his eyes. One black, one grey.

"S-Sasuke?!" Naruto cries out in surprise.

Hinata turns beet red, steam practically fuming from her head. "W-what are you doing here?"

"I, uh, heard you were here, so…" He looks between the two of them. This might be the first time Naruto has seen him flustered. "I think I should go? I should go."

"No, wait…" Naruto looks between him and Hinata, who's now covered her face with both hands in embarrassment and is sitting on the couch trying to hide. Naruto sighs and hangs his head. "I think there's no need. Why are you here?" Naruto joins him out on the balcony.

Sasuke points to the sky. "The Sharingan in the sky. I came to investigate it but by the time I got here, it was already gone. Then I found out you're here and had a hand in defeating some creature connected to it?"

Naruto grumbles and scratches his head. "This might take a while."

He goes on to explain to Sasuke what he knows. About the seal placed by the Uzumaki's predecessor, that it had the Sharingan and how it fought, that it mentioned abilities related to the Mangekyo, that it mentioned home.

"I see." Sasuke scratches his chin. "So it mentioned Amaterasu by name."

"And Shisui Uchiha's Kotoamatsukami."

"I've never heard of this Takemikazuchi, though, but it's highly likely it's another ability of the Mangekyo. And it spoke of them as if they were people?"

Finally having calmed down, Hinata joins them on the balcony, cheeks still reddened. "That's right, and it seemed greatly displeased with them. I believe you may not be safe either, Sasuke, if it hates Amaterasu so much."

"Then I'll deal with it should it come after me."

"Don't underestimate it, Sasuke." Naruto warns. "This thing… it wasn't normal. It felt like the more we hit it, the stronger it got. We hit it with fire that rivals your Amaterasu, strengthened by oil from Mount Myoboku andi t still showed more power than it did before. I don't know what it is but it's like nothing we've faced so far."

"I'll keep it in mind. Thanks for the warning." He nods. "I'll be in town for a while longer, I'd like to see this prism it came out of, if possible."

"I'll talk to Maki about it."

Sasuke turns to leave for the evening. Before he hops out, he looks back to them. "Sorry for interrupting." And he Flickers away.

Hinata's face turns red again and squeaks in embarrassment once again.

"I guess… we should just go to bed, huh?"

She nods stiffly.

* * *

The following day, Sasuke meets everyone. New and old faces.

First, he encounters the old faces. Purely by chance, mind you, but he found himself passing Guren on the street. They both had to do a double take, barely recognizing the other. Guren immediately goes into a panicked state of defence.

"What the Hell are you doing here?!" She demands. She almost lets out a burst of Crystal Style but remembers what happened the last time she did that.

"... People seem to be asking me that a lot. I'm passing by, on my way to meet Naruto. What're you doing here?"

"None of your business."

She takes a long hard look at him. She looks into his eyes, as unadvised as that is when facing an Uchiha. Her mind goes back to when she first met him. Cold, almost dead eyes that never look at you, seemingly focused on something in the distance. Uncaring. These eyes, however, are anything but. This time he's actually looking at her and not through her. This time he seems to be attentive.

"You… you really have changed."

"I suppose. A lot's happened since we met last."

Yukimaru walks up to him and tugs on his cloak. "It's because you found someone thinking about you, huh?"

"Heh." His lips curl into a light smile, something Guren thought to be impossible. "I suppose I did. Looks like you have, too, huh?"

"Mhm!" The boy nods excitedly.

"I'm glad." He turns around and walks away. "I suppose we'll be seeing each other a bit."

Guren watches in stunned silence. She whips around to Gozu. "That was weird, right?"

"I… wouldn't know. I've never met him."

Sasuke continues to where he'd been told to meet, at the temporary quarters for the Hidden Sand shinobi. There, he's led by some Chunin and Jounin who'd been warned of his arrival to the site where the Prism is kept.

He steps inside a room to find Naruto and Hinata already there, but a few other people, as well, one being a Hidden Sand Jounin with a large scroll strapped to her back. Three kids are about in the room, visibly about 7 or 8 years olds. A girl with a brown ponytail, in a sleeveless kimono shirt. A boy with unruly white hair and red eyes, wearing a hoodie. Another boy wearing a full kimono attire held together by a yellow belt, and black hair tied in a traditional topknot, chonmage.

Oddly enough, there's also 2 small toads. One with greying hair, and another with puffy purple hair?

"Well, Naruto, my boy, you were right." Fukasaku is intently focusing on the ground around him. "I can still feel natural energy coming out of it but it's faint."

Shima looks around. "It's diminishing at a slow rate but it's still around."

Maki appears worried. "So does that mean the soil around won't produce as much as it used to?"

"Hah, don't look down on natural energy, girlie." Shima dismisses her. "I said it's diminishing, not disappearing. If these things have existed for as long as we think, then the natural energy they've been releasing will stay around long after we're all gone and dead. You don't have to worry about a thing."

Fukasaku nods in agreement. "It won't be as potent as before since the source is gone, but it's been around for so long that the area has become naturally enriched. It might affect the quality of your produce but I don't think you'll notice much of a change."

Maki breathes a sigh of relief. "That's so good to hear. Thank you for looking into it." She bows deeply.

"No need for that. Naruto asked for a favour, so how could we refuse." Fukasaku smiles.

"And besides, we have a bit of an interest in this ourselves, as it involves natural energy. You said there's a pond nearby, right? We'll connect it to our well back home, so we can come check up more often, make sure nothing goes wrong."

"That… would be incredibly helpful, thank you." Maki bows again.

"Ah, stop that! Seriously, listen to your elders when they tell you something. Alright, Naruto, if that's all, we'll head back home for now."

"Yeah, that's all. Thanks a lot!"

With that, the toads disappear in a puff of smoke, which Sasuke sees as an opportunity to make his presence known. He steps forward, looking at the shattered prism, parts ranging from as big as a hand to as small as an ant but they're here.

"Ah, there you are!" Naruto calls over.

Sasuke only nods in acknowledgement, his eyes focusing on examining the remnants of chakra present in the Keystone.

After a moment of awkward silence, Maki speaks. "So, you're the Sasuke Uchiha? Heard a lot about you."

"Probably not a lot of good."

She shrugs. "You'd be surprised. I don't suppose you know anything about this seal or the creature that was in it?"

"Unfortunately not. It's come to my attention that there's a lot I don't know about the Sharingan."

"Whatcha mean?" Naruto cocks his head.

"I'll tell you everything another time. I'd like to be sure of some things before I get into it."

"Okay?"

Kotori approaches, with the boys, having been to the side of the room until now. "Dad, is that the friend you mentioned?" She asks in a quiet voice but still clearly audible.

Sasuke has a delayed reaction. "Wait, what did you say?" He furrows his brows at the young girl.

"Ah, yeah, I guess we didn't tell ya." Naruto motions to the young girl by his side. "This is Kotori, Hinata and I kind of adopted her a few months ago. And these are Yokumaru and Shoto. They're our… apprentices, I suppose?" Naruto awaits some kind of reaction, similar to what he got back in the Leaf. "Feel free to say ya don't see me in the role."

Sasuke observes how Kotori acts around Naruto. She feels safe and at ease around him, that much is clear. You'd think these two have known each other for years.

"No. It actually suits you well."

Hinata smiles. "You truly are a different person from before."

"Well, I was hardly given much of a choice. You know how he is."

She chuckles in response. "Truly."

Sasuke whips around and begins walking for the exit, without any sort of warning. "I've seen what I can with my Rinnegan. I'll be off."

"Oi, hold on! You can't just walk out right away. At least stay for a day more, when our mission ends. We can catch up."

He stops and thinks. He's been on the road for a good while now. Might not be a bad idea to slow down.

"Sure."

He still leaves the room, out to do whatever he pleases.

For the remainder of their stay, they all meet up and talk of what they've done and lived through until this point that brought them all together. Naruto and Hinata talking of their meeting with the kids and the fights against the Great Beasts, Guren and Gozu- of their time living a normal life in town, and Sasuke- of this travels around the different lands.

The kids in particular are intrigued to hear about Naruto's friend and what kind of person he is, although they don't quite get the entire story quite yet. Maybe another day.

When the time comes for Naruto and Hinata to leave, Sasuke does, as well, taking off in the opposite direction to chase after whatever information he needs to find.

The same group that got to town is now leaving it, with an additional three passengers and an escort of Hidden Sand ANBU.

* * *

Over in the Hidden Sand, things go as smoothly as they can.

Gaara sat down with Baki and Kankuro and they listened to Naruto's explanation of Guren's situation, past and current. Naruto also relays the possibility of Guren, Gozu, and Yukimaru living in the Hidden Leaf and becoming official citizens, working to pay off for everything they'd done in the past. By the end of the explanation, Gaara nods.

"I understand. I will speak with the Hokage and ensure a smooth transition for them."

"Wait…" Guren has a questioning look. "Just like that? You don't need to ask us any questions?"

"I have heard what I require. Naruto's word goes a long way and if he's put his faith in you, then I've no reason to doubt his judgement. You will still remain under watch for the duration of your stay here, for safety concerns, but otherwise you are free to do as you wish."

Naruto grins. "See? I told you we'd talk things out. Now we just sit back and relax."

"Well, you still have missions you have to go on for the next two months." Kankuro reminds him.

"If that is all, I will begin making the necessary arrangements." Gaara gives a light bow and signals them they're free to leave.

"Whenever you're free, call me for a drink, yeah?" Naruto moves his hand to simulate drinking from a cup.

Gaara gives a light smile. "I certainly will."

Once the door is closed and Kankuro and Baki are certain the others are out of earshot, they turn to their Kazekage.

"You sure about agreeing so readily?" Kankuro asks.

"We must still remain cautious, Lord Kazekage. We can't be certain what that woman would do, given the unpredictable nature of her Crystal Style."

Gaara remains silent for a moment, looking over a document he'd prepared well in advance. In truth, he'd already partially come to a decision before Naruto even returned but hearing his friend's words reassured him.

"I must commend you, Baki. Even with such concerns, the initial report you sent via messenger hawks was very impartial."

"Ah, well, naturally." Baki is caught off-guard. "I must present to you the facts so you can be aware of the situation, but as the Head of ANBU and a member of the council, it's also my duty to advise you and express my personal concerns."

Gaara nods. "And they have been noted." He begins writing on the scroll in front of him. "However, I'm sure you knew what my decision would be the moment you made the offer to Naruto, when you first encountered them with the Hidden Leaf ANBU." He keeps talking while displaying perfect calligraphy. "I'm well aware of her bounty and the reasons for it, however…" He pauses to look outside. The Hidden Sand can be described as dull in many ways but it's still home and holds a certain charm that might not be as easily visible to an outsider. "Had things turned out differently then I, too, may have ended up hunted. I stand where I am because I was given a second chance by many people, and I plan to return that trust in kind. If this Guren has repented, then I wish her all the best. If she has not then she will face her punishment at the hands of the Hidden Leaf."

"I understand."

"Heh. Guess we were worried about nothing." Kankuro laughs.

-x-

Over the next one-two weeks, Gaara enters a correspondence with Tsunade, explaining the situation, although she'd already heard the details from Yugao and her team and thought it might come to this.

She begins the process on her end of getting Guren, Gozu, and Yukimaru citizenship but there'd be some stipulations they'd have to follow. Moreso Guren and Gozu, since Yukimaru is innocent and has no bounty on his head.

For one, they'd be watched by ANBU, for safety concerns, until the Hidden Leaf can rest assured that they have indeed changed. They'd also have to work to pay off their bounties. They can be taken off the Bingo Book but only once they prove themselves, and while under observation, they'd be kept safe. That would involve joining the ranks of the Hidden Leaf as shinobi, once again only working under carefully selected teams to keep an eye on them.

Guren and Gozu themselves agree to whatever requirements the Hidden Leaf has to feel safe. Most of them are reasonable and within what they expected, anyway. With that, their joining the hidden village is set and they will finalize the process in two months' time when they leave the Hidden Sand with Naruto.

-x-

About a month into their stay in the Hidden Sand, Gaara one days calls Naruto and Hinata into his office. A part of them is slightly worried as this isn't the usual social call. They've visited plenty of times, both in their capacity as shinobi and as friends. This sounds different.

When they enter, they see Gaara sitting at a large table, surrounded by a group of around two dozen people he doesn't recognize. Most of them with hair of varying shades of red.

Confused, Naruto steps into the room. "Uh, you wanted to see us, Gaa-" He stops, recognizing they're in a more formal setting. "Lord Kazekage?"

"Yes, I did. Or perhaps I should say," Gaara turns to the group around the room. "They did."

"And they are…?"

"I was informed by Lady Hokage of the recent activity of the Hidden Leaf. In particular, one Awaji Uzumaki, who I'm told you're familiar with."

Naruto nods in confirmation. "Yeah?"

"His intention to bring back the Uzumaki clan under the banner of the Hidden Leaf. I myself was never aware nor were any of the Hidden Sand council, or so they tell me, but I sent out word around the village."

"You mean…" Hinata looks around. "These people are…"

One man steps toward Naruto, a fairly large man with red hair flowing down past his cheeks. "Naruto Uzumaki? I've heard of your exploits," He motions to the room, "All of us have. And we heard recently what happened with the Prism Keystones. We were brought together by tales of your bravery and great deeds, motivated to come out of hiding."

"Ah, right." Naruto stares. He's aware of what the man's about to say but his mind can't entirely process it yet. Maybe once he hears the actual words, he'll snap out of it.

"My name is Kyodo. It's a name I've gone by for as long as I've been a refugee here, but my real name is Kyodo Uzumaki."

Nope, he still can't wrap his mind around it.

"And everyone else is, too?"

Kyodo nods. "Many of us are refugees who came here after the Hidden Whirlpool was destroyed. We formed families, had kids, lived our lives. But now…" He looks back to his companions. "We all spoke amongst each other, and we spoke with Lord Kazekage to receive his permission. We would like to once again stand with the Uzumaki clan.

"This is… unbelievable. I never would've thought… But are you sure? You've… lived here for years. Are you sure you want to leave it all behind?"

Kyodo chuckles. "Are you trying to dissuade us? I would've thought you'd try to recruit us instead."

"Ah, no! I'm just… still in shock, is all."

"We're all certain. We've spoken with our families about this. We'd like to return to our roots, even if slightly." He smiles, and the men and women behind him nod in agreement. "This is what we want, Naruto Uzumaki."

"They have my blessing." Gaara speaks up from his seat. "All they need is yours."

"I mean, yeah! Of course! We're gonna need all the help we can get, especially right now."

"So we've heard." Kyodo extends a hand. "I look forward to working with you."

Naruto takes it and they shake hands. "And I with you."

Naruto remains for a while longer and meets every single one of them, the ones born Uzumaki and the ones married to the Uzumaki. He tries to commit every single name to memory, although it may take a while. Hinata takes notes for him so he can re-read them later.

He stays and listens to their stories, their lives, their experiences and he in turn shares his own. It's agreed that once Tsunade and Elder Awaji fully finish preparations, the Uzumaki clan will officially reform and begin operating in the Hidden Leaf.

He does learn that there are those who decided against it and chose to remain in the Hidden Sand, and he fully intends to respect their decision. It would go against everything he stands for to force others into doing what they don't want to.

Naruto would meet up with them for the remainder of his stay to talk more with them.

* * *

One of the main reasons Guren decided to stay with Naruto's group is Yokumaru, to teach him as much as she can about their shared ability and the limitless possibilities it holds, as well as the dangers.

The kids have all been brought to a training area, large enough where they're free to do whatever they find a need for. The kids are sitting on the ground listening intently to Guren, with Naruto and Hinata sitting on some rocks by her side.

Shoto is the first to ask a burning question. "If this is about the Crystal Style, why are we also here?"

Kotori nods, having thought the same thing.

"Well, you guys are gonna be a team, right?" Naruto answers. "It's important to know what your teammates can do so you can work better together. Learn the full extent of each others' abilities and you'll be unstoppable!"

"Perhaps not entirely unstoppable," Hinata corrects him, sweat bead dropping down her forehead at his enthusiasm, "But it IS important to know what you're all capable of."

"So," Guren begins, "What do you kids know about kekkei genkai?"

Kotori raises her arm enthusiastically. "Oh, I know! It's a special ability that usually only people from a certain bloodline can do, like mom's Byakugan or my Avriary or Yokumaru's Crystal Style."

Guren nods. "You're right up to a point. Kekkei genkai are powerful abilities that go beyond what ordinary shinobi can do. But the Crystal Style is not one of them."

"It's not?" Kotori tilts her head. "Then what is it?"

Hinata turns to Guren. "It's true I've never heard of the Crystal Style before or since then but surely it's a bloodline limit."

"I did a bit of snooping around Orochimaru's labs and found some research he'd done on my abilities. The Crystal Style isn't a kekkei genkai, it's a kekkei tota. A bloodline selection, not a bloodline limit."

"A kekkei tota?!" Hinata jumps from her spot. "But that's… Lord Tsuchikage is the only person known to have a bloodline selection, and you're saying your ability is the same?"

"No, it checks out." Naruto interjects, remaining oddly calm. "I've seen both Old Man Onoki's Dust Style and Guren's Crystal Style in action firsthand. They're both super deadly in their own way."

"So, it's a really impressive ability?" Yokumaru looks between the adults.

"More than impressive, kid. Honestly, I'm surprised you're able to do a Crystal Wall so well with so little training. A kekkei tota is incredibly difficult to master; took me ages to get the hang of my Crystal Style. A nature transformation kekkei genkai takes two elements to make a new one, like Earth and Fire to make Lava. A nature transformation kekkei tota uses three. We in particular combine Earth, Fire, and Water to form Crystal."

Yokumaru nods intently, listening to her every word.

"Our kekkei tota… it doesn't just create crystals, it crystalizes its surroundings. You turn water into crystals, or the ground, or even the moisture in the air." She demonstrates by forming a Crystal Blade on her forearm. "But it can also crystalize people." She warns with deadly seriousness. "If you use this on a person, you can crystalize their entire body, right down to their blood, and they die instantly. As Naruto said, it's deadly."

Yokumaru gulps. "Then… it's good I never used it on anyone…"

"There ARE ways around it. We can't crystalize lightning or fire. That's why the Miyoshi brother was a particularly bad match-up for me. Or you can apparently coat your body in chakra like Hinata here did."

"Wait… you tried to crystalize mom?" Kotori raises a brow.

"We have a… complicated history." Hinata tries not to answer. "But you don't need to worry about what happened, we're good now."

Guren steps up to stand in front of her cousin. "Basically, I just needed you to know that this ability of ours is. It's not a walk in the park and it can be dangerous if used poorly, but if used wisely, it will be your greatest ally and an invaluable part of your team's arsenal." She extends her hand to him. "Are you ready to train it wisely?"

Yokumaru breaths in and grasps her hand, a firm look in his eyes. "Yes, ma'am."

"Alright." She pulls him up to his feet. "And don't call me 'ma'am'."

"Ah, sorry."

-x-

Yokumaru's training consists of a lot of practice with the Crystal Style while Kotori and Shoto practice on the other sides of the field along with Naruto and Hinata.

The main thing Shoto has to focus on is his Shorin martial art and strengthening his Earth Style ninjutsu, even though he primarily uses the body-enhancing Earth Spear to make his fighting style even deadlier. He practices relentlessly against Naruto's Frog Kata and Hinata's Gentle Fist, primarily focusing on that with some time dedicated to other Earth Style to increase his arsenal.

Kotori's training focuses on general taijutsu but also using and getting used to her Aviary. The speed at which she can summon them, their duration, their strength and durability. In between practice, she also visits the messengers' station where, as Kankuro promised, she's allowed to get closer with the messenger hawks. Watch them fly, pet them, get to know more about their habits and lifestyle, and even gets the chance to witness chicks hatching from their eggs and being cared for by the parents. By the end of their stay here, she's able to summon a Sand Hawk, which quickly proves to be faster than any other bird she has.

When not doing their individual training, they also focus a lot more on kunai and shuriken. They've handled them previously but the focus has always been on other parts. This time, they spend much more time to using weapons that don't rely on chakra.

-x-

They do also spend time hanging out with Sangen and Tayuri, who they'd become much closer with over time. Tayuri still acts indignant, especially toward Kotori, but she's secretly the one who suggests to Sangen that they visit and play or train together with the Leaf kids. That's something Sangen has promised to take to his grave.

The two sometimes join in on the training sessions with Naruto or Hinata.

-x-

Speaking of those two, they don't slack off, either. As per their mission, they continue to do missions for the Hidden Sand, being teamed up with teams from the village and occasionally even teaming up with shinobi from other villages who're on the same mission as them. Nothing exciting happens during the following two months' worth of mission, or at least nothing that matches the fight.

* * *

When the mission at the Hidden Sand Village comes to an end and the time finally arrives for them to part ways, everyone comes out to say their farewells at the front gate.

Guren, Gozu, and Yukimari will set out for the Hidden Leaf with a group of Sand shinobi, led by none other than Temari. Naruto, Hinata, and their pupils will instead head directly for the Hidden Mist.

"Thank you for everything, Naruto." The Kazekage extends a hand.

Naruto readily returns it. Years ago, he was uncertain how precisely to act around Gaara but the two have grown closer with time and through adversity.

"Of course! We'll see each other again soon, alright?"

Gaara smiles. "Naturally." He then turns to Hinata. "And of course, thank you, as well."

She bows back. "We're merely doing our jobs, Lord Kazekage."

"Please. Just Gaara. We needn't stand on formalities."

Kyodo Uzumaki is also present to bid farewell. "We will meet again soon, as one clan."

"Until then." Naruto gives a firm handshake.

To the side, the kids are saying their goodbyes to Sangen and Tayuri, with Kotori being as overzealous as always, pulling the two Sand kids in a hug.

"Ah, let go!" Tayuri protests. "What's even with you! Let go!"

Kotori takes her time releasing them. As she does, Sangen has a slight blush, at which Tayuri puffs her cheeks and kicks his leg.

"Ow." Sangen winces.

Shoto steps to them. "Next we meet, we're probably going to be rivals."

Tayuri smirks. "And we'll win, just you wait."

Shoto and Yokumaru shake hands with their new Sand friends and prepare for their departure.

"So, you only have the Hidden Mist left, right?" Kankuro asks.

"Correct, but we may have a different stop before that." Hinata answers.

"The Hidden Whirlpool Village." Naruto states. "My clan's home. If there's gonna be any answers to… everything that's been going on, it's gonna be there."

"Hm." Gaara muses. "The Mizukage is yet to send word of any findings but if it's a situation like the Land of Earth's Temple of Stone Song where only you could enter…"

"Exactly. We gotta go and see for ourselves."

"Then, I wish you all the best, Naruto. May fortune be with you."

Before leaving, Naruto's group says their farewells to Guren's.

"We'll see each other soon, kid." Guren shakes his hand then Hinata's. She then leans down to be eye-level with Yokumaru. "And when we get to the Hidden Leaf, I'll be sure to find your mom. Yoi Kigatsu, right? Anything you want me to tell her?"

"Just… tell her I'm doing fine." He gives a light smile. The edges of his mouth tremble and he clearly has trouble keeping it together, although only Guren can see it right now. He'd been so absorbed by the training that he hadn't truly stopped to worry about his mom as he once did. Now, knowing that Guren will go see her before him, he's trying his hardest not to break down. "Tell her… tell her I really miss her, and when I go back, she won't even recognize me!"

Guren pats him on the head. "Sure thing." And pulls him into a long hug. He tries to hide his tears but the sniffling is quite audible.

When they break, Kotori rushes in and hugs him instead, with Hinata and Naruto coming in to reassure the young boy. Even Shoto offers a comforting pat on the shoulder. Once he calms down, he dries his tears and prepares himself for departure.

Naruto nods and his group leaves the Hidden Sand behind, ready for the next chapter of their journey.

* * *

** Name meaning **

Kyodo Uzumaki (うずまき キョウドウ, Uzumaki Kyōdō) = 'kyoudou' - 'doing together' or 'cooperation'

** Author's note **

When I named Yokumaru and decided he'd be related to Guren, it never occurred to me how stupidly similar his name is to Yukimaru. I kept having to go back and make sure I didn't write the wrong name by accident.


	33. Hidden Mountain Plot

**HIDDEN MOUNTAIN PLOT**

* * *

**Following the 'Be Strong' arc:**

* * *

The Land of Rice Paddies has gone through enough turmoil over the years. It's time for it to end and for the land to gain stability under a new rule.

Before that can happen, Orochimaru's hypothetical grip must be severed. There are many hideouts and laboratories within the borders that must be taken care of. For that purpose, the Hidden Mountain Village has sent sizable forces to scope the territories with the help of the loca Fuma clan, going through known hideouts and tracking down unknown ones.

Kaidomaru Sakata, as he's more commonly known, stands in front of one such hideout. He's gone through many over the past several days and collected a great deal of research and data the rogue Leaf ninja had gathered over the years. However, he's yet to find the main piece of research that interests him.

Takeshi Tokage raises an arm to stop the group, the scales glistening against the sunlight that manages to pierce through the foilage.

Kaidomaru, Kikyo, and Honozaki Fuma lead the present group, with shinobi from both the Hidden Mountain and the Fuma clan behind them.

"What is it, Takeshi?" Kaidomaru asks but he already prepares the scroll that contains his axe, wagering a guess as to what it is.

Hanzaki, the bulky leader of the Fuma clan, places a hand on the large zanbato on his back.

"Fourteen occupants with impressive chakra."

"How impressive?" Hanzaki asks.

Takeshi smirks. "Not enough."

"Not an answer, but sure. How should we proceed?" The man turns to who's not technically his new boss, Kaidomaru Sakata.

"Same as the others. We give them a chance to surrender to us. If they refuse, we kill them." Kaidomaru answers without batting an eye.

"Damn bold o' ya." A voice comes from the hideout's entrance.

The group Takeshi had sensed makes its way outside, all dressed in similar light purple robes with thick purple ropes tied either around their waist or their torso. They appear immediately hostile.

"Dunno what made ya dumb enough to act tough but ya better run away. Ain't got a chance." One in particular stands in front of the rest, trying to come off even larger than he already is.

Kaidomaru sighs. "It sounds like it'll be the latter."

Before he can even give out orders, and before the Hidden Sound remnants can make any sort of demands, Kikyo is already directly in front of two of Orochimaru's faithful, wire in hand having cut the two of them before they can even realize.

When they do, they don't hide their anger. "YOU WRETCH!"

Every single one of them begins morphing, their bodies going through massive changes. Their skin turns to dark grey or brown or black, and they gain additional body parts. Be it horns, or tails, or spines, they all take on an animalistic appearance.

"They… all have the Curse Mark?!" Hanzaki calls out.

The two that Kikyo cut go to punch her, putting all of their strength behind it.

Kikyo flares her Ketsuryugan and they immediately stop moving. Their arms begin pulsing, expanding like bubbles. From their arms, this goes to their entire bodies as they convulse, losing control of their bodies. Their eyes turn blood red and they face their once companions, any semblance of intelligence they may have had now gone.

**[Blood Puppet]**

The two turn on their allies following Kikyo's command.

"Get her!" The others roar and try to reach the one who clearly did something to their companions.

Their focus becomes divided when the rest of the Hidden Mountain's forces join the fight. Kaidomaru and Hanzaki cleave with their large weapons. Hanzaki's zanbato is blocked by a hardened arm, but Kaidomaru slices through the thickened hide, enhancing it with Fire Style once the blade is embedded in the enemy's sides. He screams in pain as his insides as set on fire, and Hanzaki uses the chance to cleave once more. This time the blade connects, apparently the hide being weakened by the intense pain he's in.

Takeshi with his expertise in stealth hides in plain sight, invisible to everyone on the field. This allows him to kill with relative ease. They're tougher now on the outside, but the inside is a different story. His specialty isn't medical ninjutsu, but he's learned enough for his specific purposes. He presses a hand against one Cursed's chest and sends chakra through it with his Chakra Scalpel.

**[Death Technique: Heart Sever]**

Swiping his hand across, the man coughs blood and falls to one knee. Takeshi places his Scalpel on the man's throat, closing the muscles and causing him to choke.

The rest of the forces do well enough to gang up the Cursed several at a time, the task made easier by their leaders single-handedly taking on multiple opponents.

Kaidomaru sends a wave of fire with a swing of his axe, burning many of them in one fell swoop.

When enough are downed and only a few remain, they see the futility of this battle and try to run away. That's when Kikyo commands her Puppets to run them down. The men with senses no longer their own grab onto their former allies and slow them down.

**[Blood Puppet Bomb]**

Their skin begins to bubble, expanding with what resembles mounds of pus, growing larger and larger until their humanoid form is no longer visible. Until the end when they explode in a fountain of blood, gore, and chakra. They instantly fall dead.

Kaidomaru looks around. "Well done." He notices some have sustained injuries and are in the process of lying down to tend to them.

Takeshi already begins the process of patching them up, as do two more. One shinobi from the Hidden Mountain and one member of the Fuma clan.

"Your people fight well." Hanzaki approaches Kaidomaru.

"As do yours. I've heard tales of the Curse Mark and it's not something ordinary shinobi could deal with."

"I picked my top for this task, as I'm sure you did, as well."

"Naturally. I don't plan on underestimating Orochimaru, even in death."

"A wise decision."

After a brief period of respite, the group walks inside.

Many of the chambers are empty and have visibly been empty for years, containing broken and dilapidated furniture, abandoned shelves and containers of liquid of various sizes and shapes, some of which are still intact but no longer operational.

They can't be sure if the Cursed ones found it like this, or left it like this but either way, it seems like much of the research that was conducted here is ruined.

They manage to find logs and data still intact and carefully go through them before cataloguing and placing in their own storage scrolls.

Takeshi in particular comes across one scroll while sifting through what remains and quickly stashes it away after looking at its contents, saving it for later. ' _We finally found something useful.'_

Once they've checked every nook and cranny, confident they've cleared it all, they pack their things and prepare to head out.

"I'll find Kaidomaru, tell him we're ready." Takeshi makes his way further inside where Kaidomaru has been looking for a while.

The Hidden Mountain and Fuma clan shinobi make their way outside.

Entering the chamber, Takeshi makes certain no one else is around as he approaches Kaidomaru.

"Anything interesting?" The Uzumaki asks.

"I'd say so. There was some extensive data on the Sharingan, list of experiments he'd done, the results. I didn't look through all of it, but it's stashed away safely."

Kaidomaru can't hide his smile. "I'm actually surprised we found something. His obsession with the Uchiha will be invaluable. As little as he knew about its true nature, this, combined with the knowledge of the Uzumaki of olde, will help us create the ultimate fighting force."

"Then let's not let his work go to waste."

The two of them head on outside to meet with the rest, and continue their search.

-x-

Elsewhere in the Land of Rice Paddies, Mizushi and Kuga were leading their own strike force. They, too, found a lab, although theirs was more operational and contained more than its fair share of hidden gems.

The two of them stand before multiple glass containers filled with liquid. Still functioning, still connected to a power supply, still completing their task.

Inside are men and women, and boy and girls of all ages. Asleep and curled up, floating within the water.

Mizushi walks up to one and dusts off a tablet on it to reveal the sign.

' _Kimimaro clone #19'_

He turns to Kuga to tell her something but stops once he sees she's already doing it. She opens up a communication scroll and begins writing in it.

"This might be one of our most important finds yet."

* * *

**During the 'Hidden Stone Secrets' arc:**

* * *

Kaidomaru Uzumaki had a plan in motion, to send a warning to the Great Villages. The Great Beasts were to attack the villages directly, as the Nue was already unleashed on the Hidden Cloud. They're still not completely freed and remain shackled by the Rashomon gates but they have the chance to test their might and shake the shinobi world to its core at the same time.

The Kappa was a premature incident but it still served a purpose. The Nue proved to still be too weakened by the spell and was easily taken down.

Today, it should've been the Hidden Stone's turn, but plans changed.

Takeshi Tokage stands atop an earthen building that the village prides itself in, his presence undetectable and his form invisible. The Second Tsuchikage prided himself for his stealth and was known as the Null-Man, so it's saddening to see that his village does not have a defence against someone with a similar skillset.

Takeshi infiltrated the village easily enough and has been here for a good while now, listening to whispers and keeping an eye out for curious developments. He did find such a thing.

Just when he was planning to unleash a Great Beast on the Hidden Stone, he caught wind of Naruto Uzumaki's exploits. Of the Temple of Stone's Song's identity of a Great Beast and the powerful seals placed inside it.

He sits down on the roof with an ink bottle and writing brush by his side, and an open scroll in which he writes the events he'd heard about.

A response appears on its own. " _The Temple that even we couldn't find out how to enter or what it was built for, yet he was able to so easily… Don't open the gate. Stay for as long as you can to find out exactly what they uncovered."_

Takeshi writes a simple response. " _Yes, sir."_

As ordered, he remains in the village for several more weeks, infiltrating the sealing experts and decoders' labs to see for himself the kind of seals that were present inside the Temple. He patiently waits and records every single detail that he can.

There're periods when he's forced to leave the village to recover from using so much chakra. Erasing your presence is not something you can do for extended periods of time and he's pushing the limits of what he can do.

He takes this downtime to send Kaidomaru what intel he'd managed to find via their communication scrolls, perfectly copying the seals that were reported by Naruto and Hinata, which in turn Kaidomaru begins looking into on his end, with the Uzumaki clan.

The process continues for several weeks until it becomes clear the Hidden Stone does not have more information, but he does see a correspondence with the Hidden Sand, of four crystals who share the mysterious markings displayed in the Temple.

With that, Takeshi Tokage is ordered to return to the Hidden Mountain.

-x-

Back home, Kaidomaru has been hard at work himself. As soon as he learned the details from Takeshi, he gathered some members of the Uzumaki clan, the elder sealing experts to look into what the spy was sending.

Elder Seto stares holes into the paper they're drawn on. "This is beyond anything we've seen." His colleagues nod in agreement. "I fear not even we know, nor do our ancestors. If we wish to find out…"

"I understand. Leave that part to me."

Seto looks up to him, confused. "Sir?"

"I'll peer back far enough to find our ancestors who do know something about it."

"But… to do that would-" Seto almost jumps from his seat.

"You don't need to worry about it, Elder. This is something only I can do." Kaidomaru stands up and walks to a shelf filled to the brim with books and scrolls. He takes out one particular scroll and turns back to the gathered group. "The sooner I start, the better. I will need privacy for this."

Seto and the other elder share a concerned look but ultimately comply. "As you wish. Please stay safe."

"Of course." When they leave his office, Kaidomaru speaks to seemingly no one in particular. "I'll have to once again ask for your assistance."

Mizushi Osui appears from the shadows, his lips curling into a light smile that contains more sadness in it than anything else. Or perhaps it's more akin to sympathy. "Of course." He gives a simple reply.

Kaidomaru sits on the ground cross-legged and opens the scroll in front of him. Forming the necessary hand signs, sealing formulae spread from the scroll and cover his skin.

**[Uzumaki clan Sealing: Bloodline Regression]**

Kaidomaru's mind jumps backward in time. To his childhood, to his father's life, to his grandparents. He sifts through the memories and lives through everything they've experienced. Every moment of joy and sadness, he experiences as his own, each emotion piling on top of the last as he pushes through, trying to keep himself in check.

For two hours, he continues this process, his hands shaking, sweat covering his brow, breath shallower by the minute. The entire time, Mizushi stands over him, carefully watching. Eventually, Kaidomaru breaks free and props himself on the ground, exhausted beyond belief.

Mizushi kneels down and helps him back up, giving him support.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes." Comes a wheezy reply. "I'm fine." He clutches onto Mizushi's arm with one hand, with the other- cups his face gently, a bright smile coming across his face. "I'll always be fine as long as you're with me, Shinzo."

Mizushi lightly shakes him. "Mizushi! I'm Mizushi. And you're Kaidomaru."

Kaidomaru pulls back and shakes his head. "Damnit." He shifts back to prop his back against the desk and breathes in.

"Who are you?" Mizushi asks.

"I'm… Kaidomaru Uzumaki. 67 years old."

"No." Mizushi cuts him off. "You're 28."

"Right. Right…" Kaidomaru seems frustrated, thinking of the question that was posed to him. "I'm… a woodcarver? No, hired assassin? For the Land of Birds?" He holds up a hand signaling to Mizushi that he's working on the answer. "Woods. Land of Woods. I'm the leader of the Hidden Mountain Village."

"Good. You're getting to it faster. Who am I?"

Kaidomaru squints at him. "Kirisaki? But you were killed, I buried you..."

Mizushi shakes his head. "I told you my name just a minute ago."

Kaidomaru slams his fist on the ground in frustration.

"It's alright. Take your time." He reassures him.

He growls and thinks for a moment before answering. "Mizushi. Mizushi Osui. Then there's... Takeshi Tokage and Kuga Tsumetogi." He stands up, using the desk to help himself. "I think I have it in order."

"Tell me, anyway." Mizushi crosses his arms, a stern expression on his face. "I shall not leave you alone until I know you're well, Kaidomaru." He adds the name at the end almost as a guarantee that he won't forget himself again.

He laughs. "As overbearing as ever. Fine, you three and Minamoto-sensei found me living in the mountains by myself, hunting boar and foraging berries. Took me in and trained me. You taught me how to behave myself in society and became my first friend, while Takeshi didn't trust me at first and Kuga didn't like me. Would you like me to get to that embarrassing scar you have on your ass?"

"No need." Mizushi raises a hand.

"Thanks for watching over me." Kaidomaru smiles.

"Always." He lightly bumps his friend's chest with a fist. "How far back did you go?"

"Nowhere near enough." The Uzumaki shakes his head. "I'll try again tomorrow. I fear if I do it again, I won't be myself. It's been long since I've had to delve this deep into my bloodline."

"Don't overdo it, Kaidomaru. I'm uncertain as to whether I'll be enough to bring you back."

"Yeah. I know the job isn't easy on you, either. Sorry for burdening you with this." He gives an apologetic smile.

"This is nothing compared to what you go through. We have your back. Don't forget that. Not just your clan, but the whole village is behind you on this."

Kaidomaru straightens himself and claps Mizushi on the back. "How about a drink to end the day?"

-x-

This process continues every day for another few weeks. Kaidomaru delves into his bloodline's memories and Mizushi is there to bring him back when the memories overlap. Kuga sometimes joins with her feline partner to relieve Mizushi of his task.

It drains Kaidomaru's, both physically and mentally, and the signs are visible in his sunken eyes but he forges on.

By the end, he collapses from exhaustion and Mizushi and Kuga carry him to the hospital in a hurry.

When he wakes up two more weeks later, all three of his most trusted are present.

"I found it." Kaidomaru whispers, saying that before anything else.

"About the seal?" Takeshi asks.

"Not quite." Kaidomaru begins laughing quietly, before it turns into a bellow.

Mizushi, Kuga, and Takeshi look at each other, concerned.

Kaidomaru stands up and rips the medical equipment off his chest. "We need to go to the Land of Wind, and free someone very important to our cause." He gives a wicked smirk.

* * *

**During the 'Hidden Sand Convergence' arc:**

* * *

_Prism Keystone 1_

Four figures make their way quietly through the green lands within the Land of Wind. There have been plenty of shinobi around to guard the logging process but for the infiltrators, it's an easy task to circumvent them.

One person in particular can be thanked for the successful operation. The Hidden Mountain's ANBU's Takeshi Tokage skillset lies in being perfectly undetectable and he can, to a certain extent, utilize that ability to keep others safe from detection, as well.

It's not perfect and it requires a lot of focus on his part but it's doable.

As they move through the forest, they take the chance to silently take out whoever may stand in their way, to lower the defences of this place. With trained movement, they sneak up on the Hidden Sand shinobi and snap their necks before they can even realize they're in danger. The bodies are then hidden underneath the bushes to potentially be discovered later. Even if someone like the Yamanaka were to look through their memories, they'd see nothing because the targets saw nothing. The bodies being found later will not hinder them in any way.

Eventually they make it to their goal- the Prism Keystone, where more of the guarding shinobi are taken out silently. For the purposes of this, Takeshi releases the invisibility he'd covered them all in as he'd be unable to concentrate during what's about to happen. For the time being they're visible but he's still around to sense if anyone approaches.

One of the hidden shinobi chuckles. "I don't know what we'd do without you, Tokage."

"I'm sure you all would have infiltrated just fine. I'm only here to support, the real job requires you Uzumaki. Removing the seals bound by blood. Only you can do that."

"And we will do it to our utmost abilities, for the sake of our goals."

The Uzumaki with Takeshi take out a scroll and begin weaving hand signs. The sealing formulae slither from the scroll and rise up to the Prism, overtaking the red markings already on it. The black crystal pulsates as time passes, its colour draining to become more and more translucent.

After several minutes, the Prism shatters and a single tomoe appears in the sky as a result.

"Ready on our end." The Uzumaki rolls up the scrolls.

"So effortless. Well done." Takeshi stares at the tomoe now ominously floating above.

Takeshi's scales shine and his form melds into the surrounding, after a moment extending to his companions. Now once again invisible to the naked eye, they take off, having accomplished their mission.

-x-

_Prism Keystone 2_

Elsewhere in the Land of Wind, Kuga Tsumetogi leads her own tema of Hidden Mountain-aligned Uzumaki members. She doesn't have the stealth abilities of her friend but instead relies on her heightened senses, and Noraneko, of course. The panther's predatory instincts are second to none and she can spot her prey from a fair distance.

Using the foliage to hide, they pounce on their targets and slice their throats instantaneously. Following right behind them, the Uzumaki take our a scroll and seal the body away to not leave behind any evidence.

Takeshi's group can remain unseen but they don't have this luxury so they have to dispose of any trace of their presence.

Cleaning her hands of blood, Kuga looks up to gaze at the tomoe in the sky. "I'd wager it was Takeshi's group that got the crystal yesterday."

The Uzumaki accompanying her rolls up his scroll. "Unlike us, they most likely needed less time scouting and observing guard patterns."

"Yes, he's always been useful to have around, that guy."

The group makes their way to the Prism located at this location and proceed the same ritual as the previous group. The seals spread from the scroll to cover the Keystone, causing it to gradually lose its black shine and turn transparents, before shatter.

A second tomoe appears in the sky.

-x-

_Prism Keystone 3_

Mizushi Osui sits on a boulder, overlooking the third location. It's far away, much farther than they should be but circumstances called for it. There's no way to reasonably get closer without getting into some major trouble.

He takes out a scroll he'd used many times, and an inkwell and a brush. He begins writing.

" _We can't get close. Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga are in the town."_

After a delay of about a minute, writing appears on the scroll in response.

" _Faster than I expected. The Kazekage wasted no time. Remain as you are. I'll handle things on our end and we might not need your group to intervene, after all."_

" _But wasn't the whole point for you to be the final one to remove the seal?"_

" _Plans change. I'll take care of it."_

With that, the messages end and Mizushi rolls up the scroll and tuck it away.

He turns to the squad he was assigned. "Looks like we're waiting for Kaidomaru's group."

A redheaded woman walks up to him. "I'm aware you've known him since youth but could you at least refer to him as Lord Kaidomaru around others? It paints a bad image of him."

Mizushi chuckles. "Very well. Such obedient subordinates he's found, that Lord Kaidomaru."

"The delay, is it because of the Hidden Leaf's jinchuriki?" She asks.

Mizushi nods. "Precisely. He's not the kind to take well to what's to happen. As far as being an Uzumaki goes, he's not as strong willed as you are."

"Then we wait for Lord Kaidomaru's group to advance."

-x-

_Prism Keystone 4_

**[Ninja Art Summoning]**

Kaidomaru slams his hand on the ground, summoning seals spreading across it. In a puff of smoke, a large entity comes forth. Flying through the sky, a red and golden koi fish larger than any building in the town in front of them makes it way. Well, flying is one word for it. In truth, it almost looks to be swimming, with the air around its fins moving and shifting, and gaining more solid properties. It seems as if the air directly around the carp turns into water for a brief moment.

"It's a shame, but we'll need to remove all witnesses." Kaidomaru gives the order to his squad.

Much more numerous than the others, this group is composed of over a dozen members of the Uzumaki clan, each prepared to do what must be done. They all charge into the village, immediately weaving their chakra for their respective jutsu.

The koi fish fires highly pressurized torrents of water, cutting buildings in half. Large slabs of rock jut out from the ground to send houses crushing down, large-scale Fire and Lightning Style to take out large groups at once. Both shinobi and civilians.

Cries for help and panicked screams fill the air as the sudden massacre ensues, no one being prepared for it. What Hidden Sand shinobi do manage to get their bearings and fight back don't last long.

**[Adamantine Attacking Chains]**

The members of the Uzumaki clan also summon forth spectral chains, just like the ones Kaidomaru had used previously. Multiple chains from each individual crash through walls to find their targets, leaving no one behind.

Kikyo stands atop a roof and watches on, as Kaidomaru lands just beside her.

"Does it bother you?" He asks.

"No. I'm used to it." Her eyes turn cold as their colour changes to dark red. "Besides, this is where I belong. Surrounded by blood."

"It will be worth it, I promise you." He reassures her.

"The Uzumaki are strong, indeed." She notes, witnessing their strength firsthand.

"They are. They all carry the memories of their ancestors, as well as their grudges. This is where we thrive; because we fight as one with each other and with our forefathers. We are the ones who hold this world's history."

"So I've seen."

She weaves her chakra and spreads her arms. The blood that now covers the streets and lines the walls shifts and rises upward in its usual liquid state.

**[Blood Dragon Assault]**

The blood all join together in several columns, taking on the ferocious appearance of a draconic entity. Kikyo sends them out to attack anyone fleeing. When the blood dragons wash over them, their skin begins to burn and melt away as if struck by acid. Their pained screams don't last long before they fall to their injuries.

Kaidomaru does not sit back, either. With his incredible speed and strength, he mows down anyone in his path with his axe and his Fire Style.

It doesn't take long before the entire town is slaughtered to the last person.

It's a complete massacre.

As soon as the "battle" is over, they shatter the third Prism and a third tomoe appears in the sky.

"Now, I need to prepare. If we're to circumvent Naruto, we'll need to be careful. If he's there to investigate the Prisms, he won't just give up easily." He takes out a scroll from his pouch and heads to one of the not-as-destroyed buildings to work. "I know it will be a great deal of work, but please take care of the bodies." He addresses his fellow clan members.

"Yes, sir."

As best as they can, they begin cleaning the town. While it's not as large as many, it's still of considerable size and would take a great deal of time before they can be removed.

However, not too long after Kaidomaru enters to begin his preparations, he's called outside.

"Sir, you have to see this! The Sharingan… it disappeared!"

He immediately runs out to inspect, looking in every direction in surprise. "That shouldn't have happened… Did Mizushi end up doing something? Or was it Naruto?" He laughs. "Well, either way it's a blessing for us. Gather everyone!"

They do as instructed, leaving the cleanup for now.

Kaidomaru embeds his axe into the ground and addresses his clan. "My brothers and sisters, you will now witness one of the many secrets our ancestors were too afraid of; one of the many reasons we fell to ruin."

Kaidomaru Uzumaki slams his hands on the ground.

**[Ninja Art Summoning: Rashomon]**

The giant gate bursts out from the ground behind them, large chains rattling unnervingly, bell gonging as it sways from its eruption from the ground. The oni face that decorates the gates themselves stares down at the gruesome sight before it.

**[Uzumaki-clan Seal: Release]**

The gates open, sending a blast of cold air out, contrasting to the desert heat. Smoke fills the are immediately around it.

"And now, we wai-"

The wait doesn't even begin before it ends.

The eight-armed Hachiman appears in front of the Uzumaki clan, in a much calmer state than it was just a second ago during its battle against three Tailed Beasts.

It looks down at the gathered group with its Sharingan. "More descendants of Tamamo. More of your wretched blood stands in Our way."

"We do not stand against you, great and venerable Hachiman." Kaidomaru speaks.

"Then what is your purpose, one who knows Our name?" It looks genuinely surprised.

"I ask for your partnership. You grant us power, and we in turn will lend you our strength to fight back against those who wronged you."

"What could you know of how We were wronged, descendant of Tamamo?"

"I'm well aware of how your kin betrayed you and sent you to your plane of existence, how my ancestors and the wielders of the Sharingan sealed you away in fear of your might. I know it all, and I offer you our service."

"Your service is of no use to Us. Our power is connected to the Sharingan, which your blood does not carry."

"Perhaps it does not, but we have knowledge of long forgotten secrets."

Kaidomaru weaves a series of hand signs by the end of which sealing formulae appear around his eyes. One set runs along his brow and another under his eyes, crossing between his eyes. As the seals fully form, his eyes turn red. Three tomoe decorate around his black iris.

"You…"

"I do not follow the way of my ancestors. I've my own path to take."

Every other Uzumaki does the same, revealing the Sharingan. Hachiman looks between each and every one of them.

"I will speak bluntly." Kaidomaru begins. "Of Indra's descendants, there is only one surviving mortal. Only one trueborn Sharingan user, who wields the power of Amaterasu and Kagutsuchi, who betrayed you so long ago and attained the Rinnegan and a fully formed Susano'o. They have grown greatly in power. However, the boy does not know of the truth behind the Sharingan, does not know the origin of the power he wields. So we offer ourselves to you. Lend us your power to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan, channel your power through us and channel our power in return. With your strength, we will overcome our enemies, and with our strength, you will overcome yours."

Hachiman tilts its head. "You speak so confidently for a mortal. Arrogant, almost. You speak of power, descendant of Tamamo, but you already possess secrets vastly beyond many's comprehension." It plants its banners into the ground. Unlike before, it doesn't use its ability, using the gesture as more of a means of demonstrating determination more than anything else. "If you know of Our fate, if you know of your ancestor's deeds, then you are aware that you are not one We can trust."

"You don't need to trust me. We will enter an open pact, by which you will have reign of more power than either Amaterasu or Kagutsuchi. Even though they've been lending their strength for longer, the boy is not a proper conduit for your powers. I can be that, and you will have power over me in return." He declares with no hint of hesitation.

"You even know of that. Intriguing. Only a fool would willingly wish to bind their soul. However, your will has been received. We will grant you Our strength and take Our vengeance. First We will build Our strength enough to take on Amaterasu and Kagutsuchi. Until then, use Our power wisely, defiant of Tamamo."

Hachiman floats above the Uzumaki clan who are still in a state of disbelief at the entity before them. It enters the Rashomon gate and as it does, the air around the corpses shift. From every single one of them, wisps of eerie cold air float into the gate, sucked in by an unknown force. When all clouds enter, the gate closes and disappears.

Kaidomaru feels a surge of power wash over him, to the point of feeling dizzy. He grabs onto his axe to keep his balance. With a meditative breathing, he gathers himself and stands upright once more.

Kikyo approaches. "So, this is your grand plan? Wield the Sharingan for yourself."

"It is but one weapon in our arsenal. A powerful and deadly weapon to be sure, but still only one of many."

Kikyo remains silent for a moment, observing the remaining members of her lost clan feeling their chakra change. "It's been a while. You've been more patient than you probably should've been but you've been waiting for an official answer for so long. Why?"

"I've said it before, Kikyo. I do not force anyone into joining. I merely seek out those who feel as wronged as the rest of us, those who do not wish to sit idly by. I know you're one such person and I understand your hesitation. It takes a while to come to terms with everything."

"Yeah, it has. And I have. Consider me all in. My life is in your hands, Kaidomaru Uzumaki."

"And mine is in your, Kikyo Uzumaki."

"So, now what?"

"Now? Now we bide our time."

Kaidomaru's tomoe begin spinning, becoming larger and the tails increasing in length as they do, creating three spirals that run to the corners of his eyes. When they stop, a skeletal horned being surrounds appears with him inside of its rib cage, enveloped in red chakra. The skeletal entity has a chain wrapped around its hand with the end of it falling to the ground.

**[Susano'o]**

* * *


	34. Hidden Mist Recovery I

**HIDDEN MIST RECOVERY I**

In truth, the trip to the Hidden Mist Village could've taken less than a day, with the fairly recently discovered cheat of using the toad pools. It would definitely save a lot of time but there's also the kids to think about and their experience.

Much of this is to give them a sense of the world and see as much as they can before they all return to the Hidden Leaf to enroll in the Academy. There's a lot of growth to be had in traveling through the land and seeing the towns and villages along the way, seeing people work the fields or travel with their caravans.

Of course, there's training to be had on top of that, as well, which is lessened because of how much time they spend on the road. Then again, that in itself could be considered training as they've gotten progressively better and faster at running and using the Body Flicker. They've gone through their training intensely and pushed themselves to their limits day after day. Despite having a bit of a late start, Naruto and Hinata would argue they've more than caught up to the level of most of their peers. The kids may even be stronger than they themselves were when they were their age, although truthfully speaking they weren't the strongest when they were kids. Not that they'd openly admit to that.

For now, they'll simply travel on foot and then by ship, which has already been arranged to meet them and will sail from the Land of Waves. It probably would be faster to run to a coastal town in the Land of Fire and then take a short ship ride from there, but this offers another invaluable experience for the kids. The trip will take longer but they can always use that time for some more training.

There might also be another reason Naruto insisted on coming here. Slightly petty but he did want to show off.

The Great Naruto Bridge.

An impressively long structure that connects the Land of Fire to the Land of Waves, reaching far into the horizon where the other end can be seen as a speck on the sea. It's gone through some modifications over the years, mainly some railings to prevent people from falling off but there's also the addition of archways dotted at select intervals that provide a bit of decor but also a bit of shelter should it be needed.

The kids stare up at the nameplate. "Woah."

Naruto tries not to look too proud but he fails miserably. His hands on his hips, his head raised high, gives a light laugh. "Yup, that's right!"

Shoto turns to his teacher. "So, shisho, you were named after a bridge?"

Hinata chuckles as Naruto's head drops instantly. "No! The other way around!" She calls out.

"Oh." Shoto looks back to the large wooden plate.

"Why'd they name if after you, Dad?" Kotori tugs on his shirt.

"Yeah, you never told us anything about this!" Yokumaru looks up to him, as well.

Hinata clings to Naruto's arm and looks past him to address the kids standing opposite her and waiting for an answer. "That's because he's really humble despite how big he talks."

Naruto pulls his arm free and walks in front of them, his back facing them. "The tale of my legendary adventures begins here!" Hinata is sure he's just being overdramatic to try and prove her wrong, but she knows better. "My first big mission was to help the bridge builder and protect him from some really powerful shinobi. The people in the town on the other side were in trouble and my team got rid of a corrupt mobster and freed them! So they named the bridge after me 'cause of how much I helped." He turns around and grins to them.

"Being freed from a mobster…" Yokumaru fights back a pained smile. "Sounds like what you did for me."

Hinata places a hand on his head and pulls him into a hug, gently caressing his hair. He accepts it.

"Ye, I guess it does. This place is really special to me… We'll stop to say hi before we move on."

The five of them head onto the bridge which has its fair share of traffic; people walking or driving carriages to and from the neighboring Lands. The bridge itself is fairly long and would still take a considerable amount of time to cross. That's presumably why some sections have been adjusted to accommodate anyone needing rest.

As they get closer and closer, they see more decorations placed around the bridge and they hear music and merriment from the direction of the town. Banners give colour and lanterns give light, preparing any who travel on the bridge for what's to come.

With the town now very clearly visible, they see that the entire place is decorated in colourful decorations and bright lights. Stalls line the streets and even the very end of the bridge, offering various foodstuffs to be eaten, games to be played, and memorabilia to be bought.

Naruto looks around in confusion. "Huh. Didn't know there was a festival going on."

"Festival!" Kotori hops in place and immediately grabs Yokumaru and Shoto's hands and leads them further in. "We're gonna check it out!"

"Don't make decisions for me!" Shoto's protests are deafened by the crowds as she drags them further in.

Hinata giggles and hooks Naruto's arm, sticking by his side. "A festival is good once in a while. Kids could use something uplifting."

"Yeah, you're right." Naruto places a hand over hers and they walk to the town to enjoy the festival themselves.

While their senses are assaulted from all sources, there's one particular sense that's affected the most. Smell. The most stalls here are food stalls and while some offer various sweets and snacks, by far the dominant food is ramen. Each stall vies for customers, beckoning them and offering them a culinary experience they've never experienced, each chef promising theirs is the best.

Naruto looks like he's in heaven. "So many…"

"I don't think even you can eat from all of them."

He looks down to her and smirks. "Sounds like a challenge."

They look around to find the kids and see them simply… standing in place, staring at one stall. Jaws agape, they squint at whatever they're looking at.

Naruto looks to Hinata who looks equally confused as he is. "You kids okay?"

They all point simultaneously, drawing their teachers' attention to the stall.

Masks. Some masks are painted in a girl's image, pink hair and green eyes. Another mask- of a boy with dark hair and dark eyes. One mask of a man with white hair, face and one eye covered by a mask of his own. However, the most prominent mask is of a boy with blonde hair, blue eyes, and whiskers on his cheeks. The masks of that boy have by far the widest selection of alternate expressions, most of them comical and goofy.

"It's you…" Kotori whispers in disbelief.

"Uhh…" Naruto's brain shuts down.

Hinata looks around and now being closer to where most people are gathered, sees how many souvenir stalls have items displaying what's very obviously Team Kakashi, and Naruto in particular being the dominant presence.

"It seems to almost be a festival for you, Naruto. Or rather…" She brings his attention to a banner that hands just over the very end of the bridge that reads 'Welcome to the Naruto Festival' "... that's exactly what it is."

He whips head all around. "Seriously?"

"I'm gonna buy a mask!" Kotori skips to the stall to buy a mask.

"I'd like one, too." Yokumaru follows right behind her.

"Uhh, you're not gonna buy one, too, are ya?" Naruto almost pleads to Shoto.

The boy crosses his arm indignantly. "Of course not."

"Oh, thank goodness." Naruto breathes a sigh of relief.

Shoto makes his way to the stall. "I'll buy two."

Naruto hangs his head in dejection, with Hinata patting him in comfort. Defeated, he walks to the stall to pay for whatever masks they've selected. Kotori's Naruto mask has a grin on its face, Yokumaru- a smile, and Shoto's- one with its tongue sticking out and one with a shocked expression.

"I take it you guys aren't gonna let this die out…"

"Nope!" Comes a swift answer.

The man behind the stall takes the money and nods to Naruto. "That's a good costume, pal. Actually looks like real shinobi gear. But ya missin the orange, mate. Naruto wears orange, dontcha know?"

"Ah, um, right. Yeah, just… trying out somethin' else, y'know? Hey, how long's this been going on, anyway?"

"The festival itself? We been celebrating getting rid of Gato ever since we… you know, got rid of him, but the festival became this big only in the last couple years. Was more of a local thing before but now…" the clerk spreads his arms to motion at the scale of the celebrations. "This your first time visiting?"

"Kinda, yeah. Thanks a lot, mister, we gotta go find the inn." He gives an excuse and moves away from the stall. "He thought I was wearing a costume of me!" He protests as they rejoin Hinata.

She nods towards the town. "I can see why." There, they see dozens of children of varying ages, dressed in orange jumpsuits that are close enough to what he used to wear as a kid. They also have whiskers painted on their cheeks, some more shoddily than others, and blonde wigs held in place by homemade headbands.

There's even some adults dressed up and with actually dyed hair as you can see their actual hair colour at their roots.

"This is weird." Naruto states.

"This is great!" Kotori exclaims.

Yokumaru points to a nearby stall. "They sell charms over there."

The kids are more than excited to buy as many little Naruto trinkets as they can. Masks, charms to hang onto your wallet or belt that have his facial features painted on them. There's even one stall that offers to paint whiskers on people's cheeks for a small fee, which the kids immediately jump on. Even Hinata gets her cheeks painted and gets herself a Naruto plushie which she happily clings to as they continue.

She looks up to him, slightly worried that he's not his usual energetic self. "I didn't think you'd be this grumpy about a festival in your honour."

"I'm not!" He gets defensive. "It just… feels weird, y'know? Having my face plastered everywhere, celebrating what I did."

"It's not like this is the first time. Whichever village we go to, people always swarm around you and ask you every question under the sun." She giggles. "But you always get flustered then, too, even though attention's all you ever sought when we were younger and want to be Hokage."

"I guess things changed?" He shrugs. "The more I did things, the less I somehow cared about being recognized for it. Figure as long as people are safe and happy, that's all that matters. Thinking on it now, I don't wanna stand above them like some kinda icon, I wanna stand _with_ them. Seeing all of this makes me realize that might not be possible."

She springs in front of him and stops in the middle of the road. She wraps her hands around his neck, still holding onto the plushie of him, and presses her forehead against his as she lightly tugs him to get closer.

"You're a kind and sweet man, Naruto Uzumaki. You don't have to view this as being put as an icon but rather as them wanting to be with you even though they think you're away from them. You've inspired a lot of people over the years and each is more grateful to you than the last."

He leans over and kisses her, not saying a word. He wraps his arm around her waist and she simply gives in to the moment.

When they break, she taps him on the shoulder. "I was trying to be supportive, not romantic."

"And yet you did both." He smiles warmly. "Thanks."

"If you're done being a couple," Shoto's voice startles them as they see the kids have rejoined them during their moment, "There's a lot of ramen to eat."

An uncertain voice comes from behind them. "Naruto?" They turn around to see a woman dressed in plain clothes, dark blue hair reaching all the way to her lower back. She steps a step closer, a questioning expression on her face. "You're… Naruto, right?"

Naruto shares her look for a moment, "Yeah, do I… Wait." Before he recognizes her. "Tsunami?"

"Yes!" She smiles and approaches the group more confidently. "I barely recognized you! Dad said you'd grown but I guess I didn't realize how much… What brings you back here?" She looks at his traveling group. "And who are your friends?"

"This is Hinata," He places an arm on her back as she gives a light bow, "And these are Kotori, Yokumaru, and Shoto, our... protégés, if ya wanna call 'em that. Guys, this is Tsunami. She's the daughter of the bridgebuilder I told you about."

They all bow, with Shoto giving his traditional Teshin clan bow of grasping his fist.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Hinata smiles warmly.

"Why don't you all come to our house? I know Dad and Inari would be happy to see you again."

"Sure thing!" Naruto exclaims. "I was actually thinking of heading right there."

Tsunami giggles. "I'm afraid you would've found an empty house if you were thinking of our old place."

* * *

Tazuna slams his mug on the table, laughing heartily. "Well, I'll be damned! In just two years, you're a dad and a teacher? Ya sure went ahead and grew up, huh?"

Looks like it's a good thing they ran into Tsunami. Their family's gotten a bit more influential over the past few years, with Tazuna becoming the head architect around these parts and the head of his own company. That meant a more comfortable life for him and his family, which included a bigger house in the middle of town. It's not what most would describe as luxurious but it's a clear improvement and has so much more space.

Currently they're sat in the dining room, drinking tea and just finished catching the family up on recent events, and also catching the kids up on exactly what happened 6 years ago.

Inari grins from ear to ear. "So you guys are gonna be ninja, huh? That's awesome!"

"Yeah!" Kotori beams. "Are you a ninja, too?"

"Oh, no, not at all. I'm just a carpenter, is all."

"But dad said you protected the village!" Kotori almost can't believe that someone who's not a ninja would go that far.

"I mean, yeah. We couldn't just sit back and do nothing, you know? We don't have ninja in this village, but you don't need to be one to want to protect it. We picked up whatever we had that could pass as a weapon and stood our ground."

"That's really brave of you." Shoto compliments him.

Tazuna places a hand on his grandson's head, proud. "Hah, I wager he was around your age when all that went down. This kinda stuff's probably normal for shinobi, not so much for us."

Tsunami giggles at her father's antics. "So what even brought you back here, anyway?"

"We're actually here to board a ship for the Hidden Mist. We're on a mission to travel between the Great Villages and Naruto wanted to travel here from the Hidden Sand." Hinata answers.

"Oh?" Inari smirks and leans on the table. "You missed us that much, bro?"

"As if. I just wanted to show off the bridge, is all!" Naruto retorts. "But then we saw that festival… What's that about, anyway?"

"Oh, just a little something to show our appreciation, is all! We started going big with the festival a couple years ago when a local group of kids put on a theatre show of your group beating Gato. Everyone seemed to like so we just… leaned in on that."

"Feels like ya did a bit more than just lean, gramps." Naruto laughs.

"Haha, I suppose did!"

Tsunami taps her son on the shoulder to get him to sit straight. "I'm glad to see you again, regardless of the reason."

"But if you're here for get to the Hidden Mist, I guess those shinobi are here for you, then?" Tazuna wonders.

"Oh, they're already here?"

"Yeah, they've been staying at the inn since yesterday."

"Then I guess we better meet up with 'em, huh?" Naruto confirms with Hinata before standing up. "Sorry to cut the meeting short."

"It's quite alright." Tsunami stands and takes a few packets she'd left on the nearby counter. "Before you go, please take these. If I'd known you were coming, I'd have prepared a lot more." She hands one each to the kids.

"Thank you kindly." Shoto takes it with both hands while bowing.

"Thanks!" Kotori grabs hers.

"Thank you." Yokumau smiles and holds his close.

"Oh my, so polite! Your teachers have taught you manners well." Tsunami giggles.

Inari mutters under his breaths. "We can be sure Naruto didn't teach 'em that."

But it's still heard, as evident when Naruto grabs Inari in a headlock and gives him a noogy.

"Oi!" The boy tries to protest but can't fight back.

Everyone laughs and Tazuna's the one to finally get the party moving. "Come on, I'll take you to the inn."

* * *

Arriving at the modest town inn, Naruto and Hinata enter with the intention of asking the barkeep where they might find the Hidden Mist shinobi but that doesn't seem like it'll be necessary as they immediately spot two such individuals sitting at a table in the corner.

Both dressed in the usual striped shirts under their flak jackets. The first is a plain looking man with short brown hair and two faces, one being his own and the other being a Naruto mask that he's flipped to cover the left side of his head as he drinks and eats.

The other is a young man with short blue hair, a pair of black rimmed glasses connected to ear protectors, and a small Naruto charm dangling from his vest. By the second man's side, propped against the wall, lies something wide wrapped up in bandages but the two hilts protruding from the top would indicate it's some kind of odd weapon.

Chojuro notices them and waves a greeting. "Naruto! You're here!"

"Hey!" Naruto waves back. "Chojuro, right? You're the Mizukage's right hand man."

"Ah, I don't think I'd go that far." He rubs the back of his head. "I still have a ways to go." He then turns to the people he's not familiar with. "My apologies, I'm Chojuro of the Mist's Ninja Swordsmen. And this is my mentor and member of the Hidden Mist council, Gonbee."

The man bows. " _Former_ mentor." He corrects. "You hardly need me to teach you anything anymore."

"It's a pleasure." Hinata bows. "I'm Hinata Hyuga, and these are Kotori Uzumaki, Yokumaru Kigatsu, and Shoto Teshin." The kids bow as they're introduced.

"And I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

Gonbee smiles. "I'd bet there isn't a shinobi alive who doesn't know you. And we've been well informed of the rest of you."

"So, enjoying the festival." Naruto looks at the memorabilia of him that they're wearing.

"It's very well put together." Chojuro chuckles. "I'm sure you must be quite proud."

"I guess that's one way to put it."

"If I may ask," Hinata grabs the man's attention, "Why is a member of the council all the way out here? And a valuable member of the Mist's Swordsmen. This feels a bit excessive for a simple escort."

Gonbee gives a light laugh. "For your group, even this is hardly enough. We're here to ensure you travel as comfortably as you possibly can. You're important guests, after all."

"So we're basically VIPs?" Kotori places her hands on her hips.

Shoto lightly taps her elbow, more as a signal to put her hands down. "Don't let it get to your head, we've done nothing."

"Yet! But we're gonna be awesome shinobi in no time!" She continues to boast.

Naruto wraps his hand around her head and ruffles her hair. She doesn't protest and just keeps her posture, messy hair and all.

"Sorry to force ya to come all the way out here." Naruto smiles apologetically.

"Nonsense. It also gave us an excuse to do some much needed business around the area, so think nothing of it." Chojuro smiles and sips his drink.

"Well, we're still waiting on supplies for our trip. We can leave as early as tomorrow morning if you'd like." Gonbee orders another round of drinks as the waitress passes. "Until then, you're free to spend the night as you wish. We did ask to keep 2 rooms free in case you decide to stay here."

Hinata glances over to Naruto. "I think it's best we don't intrude too much on Tazuna."

He nods back. "Yeah. We'll check up with 'em and come back here for the night."

"Very well." Gonbee nods and the group stays for a bit longer to speak with the two Hidden Mist shinobi.

-x-

The afternoon is spent ironing out the details of travel with Chojuro and Gonbee, but also talking about what to expect from the sea and the Hidden Mist itself.

The evening is spent with Tazuna's family and sharing tales of everything that happened in-between their meetings. Inari shows the kids around town and even the workshop where he's taken up carpentry to help his grandpa. This time Tsunami prepares more food to give Naruto and his group something homemade at least for the first couple days of travel. Hinata offers to help and they make lunchboxes that are admittedly a bit extravagant but no one is really complaining.

It's another family scene that makes the kids happy and also slightly sad at the same time. On one hand Kotori is glad to be able to experience this kind of atmosphere but her mind does wander to the orphanage, wondering how everyone is doing. Yokumaru thinks back to his mom, wondering how she's been faring. Seeing people like Tsunami, there's no way he can't think of his own mom. Lastly, Shoto doesn't give away much from his expression but he feels calm. This kind of laid back family gathering isn't something he experienced back home so he's counting his blessings.

Tazuna does ask them to stay in their house for the night but they insist on not being in their way and go back to the inn somewhat late into the evening.

* * *

The next morning, Hinata and the kids prepare to leave, placing everything either in bags or in storage scrolls for easier transport. When they get down, Chojuro looks around but sees no trace of the final member of the Leaf group.

"And Naruto?" He asks.

"Really long bathroom break, I think." Kotori answers completely seriously.

Hinata giggles and brushes her hair. "That's not what I meant when I said he has something to take care of." She motions to one particular cliff out in the distance, not too far from town but not especially close, either. "He said he'd spend some time over but he's been a while."

Chojuro rubs the back of his head. "Well, we're all ready to leave soon. I don't know how accepting the crew will be with an unknown delay. I'll go find him."

"I apologize for the inconvenience." Hinata bows.

"No, it's alright. Please don't worry about it." With that, Chojuro Flickers away to find where Naruto has been for who knows how long.

And it doesn't actually take him long to find him. He followed the edge of the cliffs standing watch over the sea and decided to make his way to the cape and just go from there. As luck would have it, Naruto's actually at the very tip of the cape, currently sitting cross-legged on the ground in front of two wooden markers.

Chojuro slows his pace, not wanting to disturb, but Naruto sensed his presence some time ago.

Without turning his head, Naruto speaks. "Is it already time?"

"Ah…" Chojuro walks out from behind the trees to join him. "Sorry. Yes, Hinata told me where you were so I came to pick you up."

Naruto stands up and dusts himself off.

Chojuro focuses on the nameless markers. "I heard from the locals about them but didn't actually ask where they were buried. So this is…"

"Where we buried Zabuza and Haku, yeah. Did you know him?"

"The Demon of the Mist? No." Chojuro shakes his head. "He was before my time. I saw him briefly a few times while I was still in training but he went rogue not long after."

"I see." Another slightly awkward pause. "Do you think it's weird?" Naruto's question is met with a questioning eyebrow raise from Chojuro. "They tried to kill us and our client, we fought tooth and nail against each other, and yet… Whenever I think of our encounter, I think of them fondly. They showed me the shinobi world can be a cruel place, but they also showed me it's never too late to realize you'd made a mistake and try and fix it."

"I know a lot of shinobi who've spoken well of their opponents. Ao often spoke of Shisui Uchiha or Chirin Hyuga from whom he got his Byakugan. You can say we arguably learn more about life from our enemies than our allies. Clashing blades and opposing wills shows you a different perspective on things that maybe your friends don't have or can't give you. So I don't think it's weird at all."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"If I may ask, how did they meet their end? We've only had stories and speculation to go off of for the past few years."

"Well, Haku died when he put himself between Zabuza and Kakashi-sensei's Raikiri. Died in a last ditch effort to protect his mentor. Then this guy Gato showed up." Naruto hisses the name. "He was the one who hired 'em and was keeping the Land of Waves hostage, and planned to kill them all along for the bounty. Zabuza… grabbed a kunai even though he was so weak he couldn't even lift his arms and killed each and every one of his goons. Died by Haku's side from his wounds. That's when I saw a shinobi's true determination, and that he wasn't the uncaring monster we kept hearing about."

"I see. We had no idea that's how it went down. We just thought it was Kakashi Hatake who killed them and that was that."

"No, there's a whole lot more to it." He looks up, a part of him almost expecting it to start snow as it did that day 6 years ago. "In the end, he realized he was human, after all. Kakashi-sensei told me they were resurrected during the War. I wish I'd been able to thank them properly."

"I wish I'd been able to fight the past Swordsmen, as well. Just for different reasons." Chojuro balls up his fist and scowls. "Many of those people were psychopaths who needlessly put comrades in harm's way and passed it off as inevitable loss."

Naruto places a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry, didn't mean to bring up things like that."

"No, it's alright. I didn't mean to get emotional. We should probably head out."

"Yeah, probably. I didn't realize how late it got. Guess Kakashi-sensei's rubbing off on me…" He grabs his pack off the ground next to him and slings it over his shoulder.

* * *

The group reconvenes back in town, all set for the journey ahead of them. They board, are shown their fairly modest quarters for the trip, and make themselves at home.

The kids excitedly check every single nook and cranny of the ship, with Kotori as always being the most hyped, Yokumaru following her closely behind. Shoto tries to hide his enthusiasm but he's not far behind them, either, acting aloof.

"Any of you been at sea before?" Naruto joins them in looking over the side.

They all shake their heads. For Kotori and Yokumaru at least it's completely understandable, given their situations.

"The Teshin clan mastered the Earth Style and near the earth we have stayed." Shoto says as if that's something to be proud of.

"So that's a no?" Yokumaru glances back.

"That's a no." Shoto confirms.

"Coulda just said 'no'." Kotori shrugs.

Hinata joins them, placing a hand on Shoto and Kotori's shoulders. "We're about to depart. Come say your goodbyes."

They all run off to the other side, where Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari are there to see them off. And not just them. Word had gotten around that the one who'd arrived the day before was indeed Naruto Uzumaki who stirred them into action years ago. They're all gathered at the docks behind Tazuna and waving enthusiastically.

"Naruto!"

"Why didn't you tell us you're here?!"

"Can't you stay longer?"

Shouting fills the air around them as everyone wants to express their gratitude to their hero.

"Wow, you really are popular everywhere, dad." Kotori smiles up to her father.

Naruto puts an arm around her shoulders and waves back.

"I promise I'll be back, alright? And we'll have a huge celebration!" He calls out for everyone to hear.

They all cheer back.

It's then that the ship begins moving, parting from the docks and moving away from the people.

"Ya better come back soon, ya got that, kid?" Tazuna tries to out-shout everyone else to best of his abilities.

Naruto grins and gives him a thumbs up as the ship turns around.

Kotori and Yokumaru run to the back of the ship to give a final wave goodbye to Tazuna's family.

-x-

Soon after departing, Chojuro and Gonbee gather Naruto and Hinata for a brief meeting on the deck, the kids not too far away.

"I know we've only just left for the Hidden Mist, but I must inform you that technically your first mission for our village is to begin now." Gonbee informs them.

Naruto looks around. "What're we supposed to do here?"

"Guard the ship." Chojuro shrugs. "We've always had a pirate problem that's seen an increase since the war. Honestly most of our resources are spent dealing with that. Since we're traveling by sea, anyway, we may as well also keep it safe."

"Then we'll do our utmost to be on alert." Hinata gives a firm nod.

"I apologize to already put you to work." Gonbee smiles sympathetically.

"No need." Naruto turns to the sea. "This is exactly what we're traveling around the Great Villages for, anyway, right? So you don't have to apologize." He looks back to the two Mist shinobi and smiles. "Anything the Mist needs for us, we'll do."

"Thank you for your understanding." Gonbee bows.

"Now then!" Naruto whirls around on one foot and looks for the kids. "While we're not being attacked, someone needs to start on their training."

Hinata giggles. "At least give them time to admire the view."

"They can admire it while feeling the satisfaction of getting stronger!" He makes his way to where the kids are at the front.

"I think Guy-sensei and Lee are rubbing off on you." She follows behind him.

-x-

Having rounded them up and gathered them by the centre mast, Naruto leans back on said mast as the kids sit in front of him. Hinata, Chojuro, and Gonbee observe from the side.

"So, what're we doing now, dad?" Kotori rocks back and forth.

"Can we even train here?" Yokumaru nervously looks around. "I think we'd break the ship…"

"Maybe that's exactly what we'll train to do- control ourselves better." Shoto folds his arms sagely.

"Weeell not entirely. Although that's also on the schedule at some point." He makes a mental note of it. "No, this time you're gonna learn..." Naruto lifts his leg and props it on the mast behind him. He lifts himself up and steps with the other leg. Much to the kids awe, he's standing completely horizontally, "... this!"

"Woah!"

"For real?!"

"Um…" Hinata thinks about how to voice her concerns. "Don't you think it's early for them? We didn't learn that until we were already Genin and had better chakra control."

Naruto crosses his arms. "Such a simple task is no challenge for the disciples of Naruto Uzumaki!" He hops off, landing back on the deck. "Besides, we've both seen how much they've trained. You already know they're stronger than we were at their age. If they're this strong already, there's no point in slowing down their training and hold back something that'll be easy for them."

"You've thought this through?" She asks.

"Of course. They're ready." He nods affirmatively.

"Alright!" Kotori jumps up to her feet. "I'll get this down in no time!"

Shoto stands up, keeping his arms still crossed and pushing himself up only using his legs. "I'm excited for this, too."

"We won't let you down, sensei!" Yokumaru declares.

Chojuro watches on amused. "He certainly has faith in his students. This should be interesting."

Naruto gives instructions of how to gather chakra around the soles of their feet and gives them a line they need to cross just like he did during their Body Flicker training. The mast is thankfully wide enough where each of them can take a side and not interfere with the other two. They line themselves up, leaving the side of the mast with the rope ladder to the crow's nest free, and begin trying to focus their chakra into their feet.

This will take a while.

-x-

The first couple of days at sea are calm and quiet. Too quiet.

Naruto and Hinata do stay on alert, along with Chojuri, in-between instructing the kids and helping them with their mast climbing.

Then, something does actually happen. The lookout up on the crow's nest, who'd occasionally watch with amusement at the kids below him trying to walk vertically, calls out. "Ship to our Port!" He calls out while observing through his binoculars. "One of ours headed our way."

"Slow coure!" The captain orders. "Prepare for meet."

Gonbee approaches the port of the ship, where Naruto and Hinata are already observing. "At times like this, ships who patrol neighboring sectors meet to share information, potentially prisoners or supplies." He explains.

"It's a measure to keep each other updated on what happens in each sector." Chojuro joins them, as well, observing the other ship that draws closer and closer. "May I ask you to use your Byakugan to look at the ship?" He looks to Hinata.

"It's outside of my range at present but I can once it gets nearer. Are you looking for anything in particular?"

"Just a precaution. Look for inconsistency within the crew members or perhaps something amiss in the cargo."

"Chojuro, you don't think…" Gonbee trails off, almost not wanting to finish the sentence.

"Pirates are known to take over ships and use these meets to set up an ambush." He explains more to Naruto and Hinata than Gonbee, who's fully aware of how sailors have been affected by such cases.

When the other ship does come within Hinata's range, she activates her Byakugan and scans the ship, almost immediately finding something wrong with it.

She gasps and places her hands over her mouth in shock. "There's… bodies below the deck. The crew aren't wearing the standard gear under their uniform, it's all makeshift. I don't think any of the actual crew are on board."

Chojuro lowers his head. "I was afraid of that. I'll tell the captain to prepare for trouble."

"So, what do we do in this case?" Naruto asks as the Swordsman begins heading in.

"Don't let on that we know. When they get near to try and dock, attack them in full force. And… try not to destroy the ship if possible." He adds as a precaution.

They nod and Chojuro tells the captain of the situation.

They do exactly that, not letting on that they know the other ship isn't theirs any longer, and allow the pirates to set up a board to connect the two. One man in particular walks across the board, strutting over confidently and apparently being the one in charge.

"Hail, we've a matter to repor-" He's cut off almost immediately.

One plan that was discussed was giving them several minutes of thinking they're in charge, maybe allowing some of them on the boat to break up their ranks. That, however, invites the possibility of their own ship being damaged during a skirmish. And they'd expect some of their crew to board the second ship which splits their own ranks, as well. It's risky, although it has its merits.

No, instead, the direct approach works even better. Ambush them while they're still confident in their ruse since save for having a Hyuga on board, it'd be impossible to know with certainty. And what are the chances a ship would have a Hyuga on board?

**[Hiramekarei: Release]**

The bandages that cover Chojuro's sword burst into ribbons as an explosion of chakra covers his blade, giving it the shape of a spectral hammer. Naruto had seen it before during the War but Hinata and the kids now see the weapon the Mist Swordsman had been carrying all this time. An unusual wide appearance, resembling a flounder fish, being seemingly held together by two handles for some reason. It's unlike anything any of them had seen and read about.

Chojuro swings and hits the supposed leader directly in the chest, sending him flying over the opposite side of the ship, not to be heard of again. Chojuro grabs each handle with one hand and splits the Hiramekarei, revealing it to actually be two blades, chakra surging through both of them.

Before the rest of the pirates can even react, Naruto Flickers over to two of them, chakra swirling in both palms.

**[Twin Rasengan]**

He hits them both square in the stomach, the massive force sending them crashing into the captain's cabin.

On the other side of the ship, a blur of lavender head startles two more of them. Before they can draw their weapons, Hinata surrounds her hands in purple chakra, flaring at a great size and blocking the men's view.

**[Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fists]**

She thrusts her palms right into their chests. The lion's maws open and they grow in size before flying through them, enveloping their whole bodies in a purple glow for a moment before it dissipates and they fall to the ground, coughing up blood.

"Kill them!" One of the pirates shouts out in a panic, although they're already at a severe disadvantage.

Two more of them try to go for the ballista mounted to the side but find themselves stopped.

**[Crystal Style: Crystal Hexagonal Shuriken]**

A series of six-sided glass-like projectiles embed themselves into the ballista and into the ground around it, preventing one of them from operating it.

**[Feather Kunai Barrage]**

A series of feathers strike the second ballista just like the shuriken, forcing the man to take a step back to avoid getting stabbed himself.

Although the original plan was for the kids to stick back, they wouldn't be their teacher's students if they did as they're told. They're taking this opportunity to show off what they've accomplished through their training! A long range attack for Yokumaru, and a greater control of her feathers for Kotori. It's not the only thing they've learned over the months, and they plan on showing off a lot more from now on.

Shoto Flickers over next to one of the ballista, now covered in minerals. The man next to him draws his sword to swing at the child who appeared from nowhere. Normally, the sight of a sword coming down at you would be a terrifying experience. Kotori and Yokumaru have shared their own stories of being amidst a nasty situation and in some respect, Shoto expected to be more scared although he'd never admit that.

Instead of fear, he's oddly calm about it. This man is trying to kill him and he's probably good at killing. But… his speed, the force behind his swing… Naruto is much more ferocious during sparring. Much more threatening. Compared to Naruto, this guy may as well be standing still.

Shoto punches the man's swordhand with a trained fist, causing him to drop the sabre in a cry of pain. A kick to the knee gets him on the ground at eye-level with Shoto.

**[Earth Style: Earth Spear]**

Shoto brings his darkened fist back and another punch directly on the nose sends the pirate to the ground with a broken and bloody fountain of a nose.

As the second man begins to take action, Gonbee Flickers over, placing a sword at the man's throat. "Drop it." He says in a threatening voice unlike anything the kids had heard from him before.

The pirate does as instructed.

**[Multi Shadow Clones]**

The deck becomes filled with dozens of Naruto clones, all of them surrounding the remaining pirates and standing at the ready. The Clones are prepared to fight, but make it clear surrender is the best course of action.

Everyone drops their weapons and gets on their knees.

The actual ship crew hop on over and put the living pirates in bindings and lock them in the cells in the ship's hold, the lowest level. The shinobi meanwhile, inspect the ship that had been taken over. They do check up on the ones that were attacked by Chojuro, Naruto, and Hinata. All dead.

"Hm." Chojuro contemplates, scratching his chin. "Maybe I should have held back against the leader."

"We caught enough of them alive, no need to worry."

On the other side, Naruto has his arms crossed. "You jumped in. You didn't listen." He scolds the kids.

"Sorry." They apologize in unison.

Frustrated, he rubs his head. "But ya did good, too."

"You said it yourself, shisho. We're strong." Shoto nods.

"Yeah, we're ready!" Kotori chimes in.

"I know you are. For your age." He corrects the misunderstanding.

Hinata kneels down and pulls the kids closer together. "I know you want to prove yourselves. You've gotten so much stronger I can hardly recognize you. But you didn't know what we intended to do. What if we'd decide to set off explosive tags at the ballista and you went in not knowing about them?"

"If you wanna prove yourselves, then we work together, alright? As a team." Naruto holds out his fist, a gesture that Kotori recognizes well from the Hidden Cloud.

She bumps his fist, and Yokumaru and Shoto follow suite although they're slightly more confused.

"Now let's get you back to training!"

* * *

For the rest of the journey, they would encounter several other questionable folk and confront them. They caught another two ships of pirates and smugglers, filling up even the second ship's brig. Hinata's Byakugan once again proves an invaluable tool for missions like this.

The kids do stay out of those fights but that's also partly because the actual shinobi are too good at handling the criminals, the most powerful of whom that had some more serious training would be comparable to a Genin. Maybe it's just their luck that they keep running into weaker ones.

Beyond all of that, the kids continue trying to climb up the mast with varying levels of success.

At one point, a light bulb sparks in Shoto. He takes off his shoes and performs familiar handseals as Kotori and Yokumaru look at him confused..

**[Earth Style: Earth Spear]**

So far he's always used it to strengthen his hands as most of his fighting style is about delivering punches, with only the occasional kick. However, Earth Spear is a jutsu for strengthening the body, not just the hands. He's freely able to dictate which part turns to stone, it's just that his hands are the most useful for his purposes. With enough training, he should be able to cover his entire body.

This time, his feet turn dark brown, gaining an earthen texture.

He keeps his focus on his feet and tries to climb up, carefully placing one foot on the mast before lifting himself and walking up. He doesn't quite reach the goal Naruto had set, but he does much better than his previous attempts. When he loses concentration, he pushes himself off and lands back on the deck.

"Good job, kid." The lookout claps from atop the crow nest, again looking down at the training below him.

"Hey, since when could you do that?!" Kotori points an accusatory finger at him.

"Since always. I've just never had a reason to use it on my legs." He focuses his chakra, attempting to readjust his output to

"And that worked?" Yokumaru wipes his sweat off his brow.

"I thought to use my chakra on my feet in a way I already know, and maybe it'd help me figure out this task. Seems it did." He taps his enhanced sole on the wooden deck. "It's a different way of applying chakra but similar enough."

"Show me how!" Kotori gets way up in his personal space, eyes sparkling.

Shoto tries to get some distance back between them. "Uh, sure."

Shoto helps them get a better grasp of channeling chakra, helping them along while Naruto and Hinata watch on as they keep getting better and better at it.

Ultimately, by the time their trip reaches its end, they manage to learn the tree walking exercise. They get to the top, and stay for a few seconds, before their chakra runs out and they fall.

Naruto catches them mid-air and squeezes them all, cheering with pride. "I knew you guys could do it."

Kotori joyfully returns the hug, as does Yokumaru. Shoto tries to remain stoic, but a smile can't help but creep on his face and he returns the hug, as well.

Gonbee nods approvingly. "I'll be honest, I didn't think they'd get it."

Hinata smiles. "They got it in about the same time we did, and we were older." She walks over and hugs the kids, too. "Well done."

Kotori grins widely.

"Just in time, as well." Chojuro looks ahead, where a large piece of land steadily grows larger and larger. "We've reached mainland Land of Water."

The Hidden Mist is not far away.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIVIA
> 
> Gonbee is a super minor character who appeared in the chapter Chojuro, Mei, and Ao debuted in, but only given a name in the Databooks.
> 
> AUTHOR'S NOTE
> 
> Naruto returning to the Land of Waves with his students is a staple of Naruto-sensei fics that I just couldn't avoid any longer. xD


	35. Chapter 35

**HIDDEN MIST RECOVERY II**

Mei Terumi rests her head on her hand as she smiles to the group in front of her. "Well, aren't you three the cutest."

The boys look away blushing while Kotori stares. ' _She's so pretty!'_

She then turns to the adults of the group. "Naruto Uzumaki. Hinata Hyuga. Gonbee already gave me quite the detailed report. I apologize for giving you a mission before we'd even met."

"It's perfectly alright. We were in a position to begin, so there was no reason not to."

"Yeah! Whole point is to help each other out, right? Can't say no to someone in need." Naruto pumps his fist.

Mei giggles. "So dependable." She takes out two pouches of monetary compensation and a scroll. "Unfortunately, guarding the ships tend to be C-rank missions, although they can easily and unexpectedly turn to B or even A-rank. I know it may be less than you'd expect and what you're used to, but I will have to ask you to take on these missions for the time being."

Hinata nods. "Chojuro and Gonbee said pirates have been a problem. Is it that serious?"

Mei nods and leans back in her chair. "In terms of territory, the Land of Water is as large as any other Great Nation, but much of it is, as the name suggests, water. The vastness of the seat is the issue. You're not traveling at your pace, but the pace of the ship, and tracking criminals is more difficult because of the lack of… well, tracks. It becomes quite a challenge and much of our manpower is spent on protecting our travel routes, which leaves few to do other work."

"If that's what needs doing, then we'll do it."

"Thank you. You'll switch between different routes and different ships to widen your scope, look at some of the more problematic ones. I've also arranged a detour for you. The Land of Whirlpools."

Naruto looks serious at the mention of the name. "The Uzumaki clan's homeland."

"Precisely. When it fell, the land was absorbed by the Land of Water but it's hardly anything more than ruins. No one ever truly bothered to rebuild it, and my predecessor only really cared about its secrets which he did not find much of. At the request of Lady Hokage, we investigated as much as could but found nothing of interest, although we heard from Lord Tsuchikage how you entered the fabled Temple of Stone's Song. Perhaps you may find something that we cannot. Your next guard mission will take you to the Land of Whirlpools so you can look into it. We've even arranged an… expert, so to say, to accompany you."

"Yes, ma'am." They both nod.

They look over the mission scroll that contains the relevant information of their task. It's as the Mizukage says, it's mostly low level threats, although it's enough to cause serious issues. They're not difficult, so to speak, although that may be underestimating the work of the Mist shinobi. It may be safe enough to ask...

Hinata glances back to the kids, taking in their situation for a moment, before facing forward again. "Lady Mizukage, with your permission, we would like to bring our students with us on guard duty."

The three of them look surprised at the request.

"For real?" Kotori smiles widely at the prospect of going on actual missions.

"The children?" She raises a brow. "I know you're not ones to underestimate a task you're given but to take children with you when it could turn dangerous? Is that wise? I heard you're still training them, they're shinobi just yet."

"They're strong." Naruto affirms. "We wouldn't ask if we didn't have faith in them. I promise we don't plan on taking any of this lightly."

"We will continue to give everything of ourselves to the missions you assign us. If we do not, you're more than free to label our mission as a failure and put it on our records."

"That's… a bit extreme." She sighs. "But after hearing my fellow Kage sing your praises, I can't very well not put my faith in you, as well. Just know your performance will be evaluated differently. This is a precedent as far as missions go that's done as a courtesy for your deeds. Don't let it go to your head."

"We won't!" Naruto and Hinata bow, which the students take a cue from and bow as well.

"You're to leave for your mission in two days' time until preparations are made. Feel free to use that time to better acquaint yourselves with the village." She peers over to the door behind them and calls out. "Ganryu!"

A man enters the room that looks very differently than how Naruto remembers him. He wears the usual Mist uniform with a white headband protector. Where previously his long hair was left unkept and wild, with an untrimmed stubble, his hair is now combed and tied in a ponytail and a goatee adorns his chin. His cheeks are also filled out and not as sunken in as they were before. All in all, he looks to be in a much better part of his life.

He greets Naruto with a smile. "It's good to see you again, Naruto."

"Ganryu? Hah!" He walks over and the two exchange a firm handshake. "I almost didn't recognize you!"

"I'll just take that as a compliment." The older man laughs.

"Ganryu here will act as your liaison for the duration of your stay. Whatever you find yourselves needing while not on missions, contact him and he'll arrange it for you." She then turns to the man. "Please show our guests where they'll be staying."

"Yes, ma'am." Ganryu bows and beckons the group to follow him outside.

* * *

As with the other villages, in what almost feels like a staple, the Hidden Mist is also surrounded by mountains, although it feels more natural. With the Hidden Rock and Hidden Sand, it's almost as if the mountains were carved to accommodate the village, whereas with the Hidden Cloud and Hidden Mist it feels like the village was built not to disturb the mountains.

The architecture relies on cylindrical buildings made of brown bricks, built much taller than in the other villages, although some buildings are smaller but wider, taking on a circular shape. The entire area around the village is surrounded by lush greenery, much thicker than the Hidden Leaf, and rivers that run between the streets. As a result, many of the walkways around the Hidden Mist Village are actually bridges.

And of course, there's the titular mist that looms over the landscape, which would give the village an eerie feel if it weren't for the sounds of people walking through the streets, conversing or trading with local clerks.

After a brief walk and a bit of catching up with Naruto and his group, they're about halfway to the building they're set to stay for the remainder of their mission.

"So, Naruto assisted you, as well?" Hinata asks after hearing the tale of how they met.

"That's right. I was so absorbed in my hatred for the Hidden Rock that I nearly jeopardized the alliance between our villages and couldn't see past how it would only make _me_ feel better. Thankfully," He looks to Naruto, "you happened to be around and knocked some sense into me."

"Is that why you're our liaison?" Naruto asks.

"In a way. I agreed to be a liaison to guests from the other villages as a way to mend the wounds of old, and grow closer to our fellow shinobi. I didn't actually know you'd be here on behalf of the Leaf until recently, so when I heard you'd be coming I asked to free my schedule so I could be assigned to you."

"Well it's good to have ya around. Feels better to have someone ya know here, since I don't really know much about the Hidden Mist, y'know."

"I understand completely. We've always relied on secrecy, not even trusting our own shinobi, let alone outsiders."

"Is it really that bad?" Kotori asks, almost looking saddened at what she's been hearing about the history of shinobi.

Ganryu looks at her and thinks over his answer. "It was, but we're getting better. Thanks largely to your dad here."

"Shisho keeps getting praised everywhere we go…" Shoto comments in passing.

"Right?!" Kotori looks proud, as if she'd had something to do with her adopted dad's fame. "Even you knew about him when we first met! That's how awesome he is!"

Ganryu chuckles. "Well, from what I heard from Chojuro, you three are pretty good yourselves. Your sensei's got an eye for talent. Keep at it, alright?"

"We will!"

"Does this mean you're not on active duty, Ganryu?" Hinata asks.

"Not currently, no. I'm dedicating my time to this for the time being. I've been offered different positions, but this feels like an appropriate place for me." He smiles wistfully. "With my experiences, I believe it's better for me to assist the ones who will lead the world to change and make it so cases like mine are no longer the norm." His smile brightens but there's still an underlying sadness mixed in with his words of hope. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to keep talking about this. We're almost to your apartment.

Along the way, Ganryu does also show them where he lives in the event that they need to find him and shows them their own apartment. The building has been specifically dedicated for guests of import from other village, which includes the shinobi that are on the same mission as Naruto and Hinata to help their new allies in the Shinobi Alliance.

Before heading into their apartment, they exchange greetings with shinobi from the Hidden Sand who they'd admittedly never met before, so it's slightly embarrassing that the Sand shinobi knew of them.

As always, Naruto and Hinata get their possessions in order in their own room, while the kids get acquainted with theirs, trying to make it feel as close to home as they can for the next two and a half months. The fridge is actually already stocked with food, and the pantry is stocked with snacks, so they're set for a while.

Hinata almost immediately kicks into action to prepare dinner for her makeshift family, with Naruto also present to help her with preparations. The kitchen itself is only separate from the dining room by a bar counter, so the kids use this opportunity to talk while setting the table.

"What's the next step in our training, shisho?" Shoto places the plates and cutlery with near perfect symmetry.

"The next step is to rest up." Naruto passes a large wooden spoon at Hinata's request.

"What, why?" Kotori bumps the table, causing the just laid out plates to move about. "We were on a roll, right?"

Shoto readjust the plates.

Yokumaru enters the kitchen to clean the glassware. "To get used to the air?" He makes an observation.

Hinata smiles. "That's correct. The air at sea is different. You remember how different the Hidden Cloud was, right, Kotori?" The girl nods in response. "The salt, the humidity, everything is different when on a ship so you need to get acclimated to the difference. We can resume training when we go on our mission in two days."

"Besides, dontcha guy wanna explore the Hidden Mist?!" Naruto sounds excited. "I've never been here before and it looks fun. Figure if we're gonna be here for a couple months, we should get to know it."

"I saw some interesting building up on a cliff." Yokumaru begins getting excited to explore, as well.

"There ya go! We can go check 'em out." Naruto ruffles the boy's hair as he finishes drying off the five glasses, which are then taken back to the dining room.

"I suppose recovery is an important part of training." Shoto nods sagely.

Kotori very deliberately pushes one of the plates slightly to the side while maintaining eye contact with her teammate. She then hops to look toward their teachers. "I wonder what snacks they have here?"

Shoto grumbles in her direction.

"We'll find that out, too!" Naruto begins taking out the food to place on the table as everyone moves to take a seat on the table.

They have their first dinner in the Hidden Mist, absorbed in conversation and planning how to spend their two free days before the mission.

And the following days are a breath of fresh air, spending time relaxing together and going around to whatever strikes their fancy. They go through restaurants to try the local cuisine, they buy new clothes that are a better fit for the more humid Land of Water, they visit the lakes and parks within and around the village.

On the final day, Naruto and Hinata stop by a shinobi store to pick up some basic supplies, namely kunai pouches for the kids so they can store their shuriken and kunai. They pick their own pouches and Naruto and Hinata help them get strapped on and show them how to maximize the space inside.

Yokumaru looks over himself, newly geared. "It's like we're real ninja!" He shows a rare bright smile.

"Yeah!" Kotori exclaims. "Does this mean we can fight with you."

"It means," Hinata tightens the wrapping on her leg, "That you can defend yourselves if the need comes for it."

Naruto pays for the supplies as the kids run out, happy with their new look. Kotori immediately starts practicing how quick she can get her kunai out and ready.

Hinata giggles at their excitement and turns to Naruto as they leave the store. "I would've thought you'd give them the special pouches Lord Fourth had made."

"I thought about it but I figure it might be better to have them get used to the normal ones first, you know? We can give them my dad's when they become Genin."

"Sounds like you're thinking very seriously about the timeline of their training."

Naruto laughs. "Probably more than I did my own."

They follow the kids to make sure they don't overdo it with their new shuriken and kunai. It's an idyllic scene and they don't even notice the time pass by.

* * *

On the set day, Naruto, Hinata, and the kids make their way to the docks, where they're set to depart from. They ask some workers for directions and are led to their ship, where they already see a few people waiting for them in front of the boarding plank.

There stands Chojuro, accompanied by a young shinobi of short spiky brown hair. Behind them, also waiting, is an old man who Naruto recognizes. Greying hair and a long grey bear flow down his tailored clothes, or white and red.

"Awaji?" Naruto approaches. "What're you doing here?"

Awaji Uzumaki bows to the group. "It has been long since last we met." When Naruto and he are near each other, the old man exchanges a handshake, cupping the younger Uzumaki's hand with both of his own. "I hope you and yours have been faring well."

"Yeah, we have." Naruto smiles at his elder and turns to the others. "You didn't really have the chance to meet the kids before. These are Kotori, Yokumaru, and Shoto. Guys, this is Awaji Uzumaki, an elder of the Uzumaki clan."

They all bow to him.

Hinata bows deeply, as well. "It's a pleasure to see you once again, Elder Awaji."

"So…" Kotori looks between him and Naruto. "You're dad's grandpa?"

Awaji chuckles. "Slightly more distantly related than that, but that works just as well. I've heard good things about you from Lady Hokage."

Kotori proudly puffs out her chest.

Yokumaru scratches the back of his head. "We haven't done a whole lot, though."

"Well, it's not always about what you've done, but also what you can and want to do. You've ventured on the path of becoming excellent shinobi and have grown as a result. That, in and of itself, is commendable."

Chojuro steps up with them, along with the other man. "Elder Awaji will accompany us to the Hidden Whirlpool Village. Given his knowledge on the matter, we thought it wise to ask Lady Hokage if he could be sent over. And this," He motions to the other ninja, "Is Kiri. He's a medic, so if anything happens, you can count on him. He's more than proven his worth."

Kiri nods in greeting. "A pleasure to be working with you both. I must admit, I feel at ease fighting alongside a Hyuga. The Byakugan saved my life a few times during the War."

"You fought alongside a Hyuga, then?" Hinata asks.

"Sure did. Was part of the Commando Unit with Hoheto Hyuga."

"I see. Then we shall be relying on you as he has."

Naruto looks around as if expecting to see someone else. "Who else is on our team?"

"It's just us four." Chojuro answers. "Four-man cell, as is the standard."

"Wait, you're coming, too, Chojuro? Thought you'd have other responsibilities. You're the Mizukage's advisor and the only Ninja Swordsman of the Mist."

"That's precisely why Lord Chojuro was chosen!" Kiri pumps his fist. "We're to escort you to potentially uncover secrets in the lost Hidden Whirlpool, and also have the esteemed Elder Awaji Uzumaki. It's only fitting that someone of Lord Chojuro's calibre be chosen for this mission!"

"You're playing me up, Kiri." Chojuro rubs the back of his neck. "I'm not that special."

"What's a Ninja Swordsman of the Mist?" Shoto looks up to Naruto.

"Ah, well, they're a group of really powerful swordsmen from the Hidden Mist." Naruto scratches his chin.

"... I got that much."

Hinata chuckles and explains. "You all saw Chojuro fight, correct? How his sword's unique shape and fighting style, its ability to gather chakra and take on different shapes. Mastering those abilities is what made Chojuro a Swordsman of the Mist."

"Takes a lot of training to properly wield them because of their unique properties." Kiri adds. "They're not just ordinary swords, they each require a very unique fighting style just for them."

"I think we should go now." Chojuro says in a hurry as he turns to get on the ship. "Don't want to keep them waiting."

"He's kinda like you, Yokumaru." Kotori nudges her more shy teammate in the ribs.

"So why's there only one Swordsman if there's seven swords?" Shoto tilts his head as he leaves.

"Well, a lot of things happened and we lost the swords until recently. Many are training to inherit the swords. One correction, though," Kiri looks to Naruto who mentioned Chojuro being the only one, "There's actually another. One who trained in his youth to become a Swordsman before they were taken and has now taken active duty. Saizo Kyorin, wielder of the blastsword Shibuki. He's out on a mission right now, but perhaps you'll get to work with him at some point, as well."

"Guess we'll see!"

* * *

Setting sail once again, the group take on their trip to the destroyed hidden village, doubling as a guard mission. Awaji remains relaxed for the most part, enjoying the ride, while the shinobi keep an open eye for anything out of the ordinary on the vast blue horizon.

During this time, the kids decide to test their recently acquired ability of walking on vertical surfaces. They climb up the mast as they did on the previous ship, slowly taking each step to keep their focus on the task at hand. One foot forward, plant it firmly on the wooden structure, then the other foot. They're a bit wobbly but they do get the job done.

That is, until a pebble strikes each of them on the back and they drop. Before the sensation of falling even fully hits, Naruto and 2 Clones grab them and place them back on the deck.

"What was that?!" Kotori protests.

"That's the next part of your training of course." Naruto answers.

"But we're getting it, right?" Yokumaru looks nervously. "Did we not?"

"You said we did it and that you're proud of us, shisho!"

"Yeah!" Kotori backs him up.

"And I am! You did really good in completing part 1 of the training!" He grins.

"And part 2 is…" Yokumaru tries to rub his back where the tiny rock hit him with a deceptive force given its size.

"To keep focus on it while under attack. And then to keep focus on it while casting jutsu. And then walking on water."

"Alright, water walking!" Kotori hops in excitement. "I've only ever read about it in books."

"And soon enough you'll do it for yourself. But before that…" He points up. "You gotta learn to dodge first."

The kids jump back onto the mast, doing their wobbly best to stay glued to it while Naruto pelts them with pebbles. It… takes a while for them to properly get used to the different perspective and move accordingly. They're very awkward in the beginning and not moving as they normally do from a combination of factors- the unfamiliar angle but also the fear that if they move too much, their chakra would break. They also fall plenty of times on their own due to losing focus and have to hop back up.

It's different from anything they've done so far.

At one point, Awaji sits on deck, observing their training. He's sat next to Naruto who's writing in a notebook, while a Shadow Clone pelts pebbles.

"It has been so long since I was to the Hidden Whirlpool…" The elder Uzumaki reminisces.

"Have you been back since it was destroyed?" Naruto asks as he notes something down on a page, but still also giving Awaji his full attention.

"Several times, in fact. I held out hope that other survivors might flock back to its ruins and we would find each other." He sighs. "I did indeed find others like me and we kept in contact, and they've agreed to make our new home in the Hidden Leaf." He turns to Naruto with a smile.

"I'm glad you found each other." Naruto smiles wistfully. "I can't imagine what it's like to lose everything like that. I've… been told it's not easy to relate to." He remembers a very old conversation, if it can be called that.

"Hmm. Perhaps not. But I don't believe you need to be able to relate to it necessarily, simply understand that it's a difficult process for those involved. Support from any source is welcome, and thankfully I had built relationships I could rely on, and I still had my son with me. So not all was lost."

"And now you'll be able to rebuild! Even if only a little."

"Indeed we shall. I look forward to seeing you lead the new Uzumaki clan." Awaji chuckles.

"Yeah, it'll be something." Naruto laughs along before he stops. His hand freezes above the notebook and he whips his head sideways to look at the old man. "Sorry, what?"

"I simply mean that your leadership will propel our clan forward and assist us to… 'get with the times', as it were."

"No, no, before that. Why would I be clan leader?"

"Well, who else would lead it?" Awaji asks a non-question. "The Hidden Leaf is your home, after all, you're familiar with it and its people far more than any of us."

"Yeah, but you're the one who got everyone together and made it all possible. You'd be way better at it than me!" Naruto protests.

Awaji scratches his chin. "It would seem I've ruined a surprise that Lady Tsunade was planning. I must apologize when next we meet."

"Yeah, but…"

"I believe you're more than ready for it." Hinata's voice draws them from their conversation. She approaches, carrying two cups which she hands to Naruto and Awaji. "After all, what better way for the future Hokage to get more involved with the village?" She sits down next to her boyfriend.

"Lady Tsunade believes so, as well. She's certain you're up to the task. As Lady Hinata has pointed out, if you still desire to become Hokage, consider this training in that aspect." Awaji takes a sip from the beverage Hinata brought them. A very relaxing cup of tea.

"Just didn't think it'd happen this soon, if at all. And I still don't know any of them. I mean, there's the group from the Hidden Sand we met but that's it."

"Ah, yes, Kyodo Uzumaki. Lady Tsunade informed me of their decision and the plan to include them in the new clan. I will admit, I was not aware of such a large group hiding within the Hidden Sand Village. From my understanding, they were motivated by you, correct? It is the same with the rest of us. Even the ones I kept in contact with all these years would never have agreed to reveal themselves, were it not for your actions and deeds, and the weight the name 'Uzumaki' now carries because of you."

"You sure put on the pressure, you know that, Gramps?" Naruto laughs.

Awaji joins in. "An older upbringing, I suppose."

"Besides," Hinata locks her arm with his, "You're not alone. I'll keep being by your side, as will Elder Awaji. We'll help you in whatever way we can."

"Naturally." Awaji nods sagely.

"Guess I'll have a lot to think about now for when we get back home." Naruto contemplates his apparent future as a clan leader.

It's not something he was ever planning on being ,seeing as he never had a clan. It didn't even cross his mind when Awaji began making plans to bring the scattered Uzumaki back together. He's both nervous beyond belief but also carries a newfound excitement for it.

Naruto pulls Hinata closer and rests his chin on her head.

Hinata squeaks. "Um, being like this is kind of embarrassing." She looks around to see some ship crew looking in their direction and whistling and giggling at the couple.

"If I may ask," Awaji asks, drawing their attention away from the crew's gazes, "What's the notebook for?"

"Ah, I was just keeping a record of how the kids are doing." He points to the mast where their training continues. "And keeping track of where they need to improve."

"So diligent." Hinata smiles.

"I'm thinkin' of making it into a game."

"A game?" Hinata cocks her head.

"Well, more like a competition. Watch."

Naruto draws three columns taking up an entire page. At the top of the first line, he writes "Kotori", above the second line- "Yokumaru", and above the third line- "Shoto". He then hops to his feet, kisses Hinata on the temple, and walks over to the kids where they've been taking a break from their training under the Clone's supervision, currently sitting on the deck and catching their breath.

"When you finish your break, only Kotori goes up. You two," He motions to the boys, "Will try to get her off her balance."

The three of them look between each other. "Huh?"

Naruto smirks. "One of you up there, and the other two down here taking turns. For each pebble dodged, you get a point. Whoever manages to hit the one on the mast gets five points and goes up there to dodge."

Shoto stands up and dusts himself off. "And what's in it for the winner?"

"Why don't we make it interesting? The two losers will have to listen to the winner for a day." Naruto answers.

"Alright!" Kotori jumps up. "I'm gonna make you two work yourselves to the bone!"

"Dream on." Shoto gets right in her face. "You've been doing worse than me this whole time, you're not gonna win in a million years."

"I've just been holding back for your sake, so I don't hurt your feelings." Kotori retorts.

"Umm…" Yokumaru raises his arm. "Is this necessary?"

"It's just a fun game." Naruto pats him on the head. "When you win, you can just opt not to use your newfound power."

"Whatcha mean, when _he_ wins, dad?"

"That's favouritism, shisho!"

Naruto chuckles and goes back to his spot, leaving the notebook to the Shadow Clone to keep score.

With a newly charged determination, Kotori goes up the mast and takes a stance. "No way I'll lose!"

Awaji chuckles. "You believe that will motivate them to do better?"

"Help me and Sasuke when we were training, always trying to one up each other."

"Kotori and Shoto are certainly the competitive types, but I worry about Yokumaru." Hinata watches on as the boys begin their target practice, Shoto and Kotori definitely being more aggressive. "He's usually so passive."

"Yeah, but they'll need to get on the same wave sooner or later. Yokumaru's passiveness and caution can help him, but he needs to know _when_ to be passive and cautious. Similarly, Kotori and Shoto need to learn to slow down."

"So you think with this exercise, where they must carefully observe each other, they could pick up something new." Hinata summarizes his thoughts.

"More or less, yeah."

"An interesting experiment. I'm curious as to how it will pay off." Awaji nurses his tea.

For the rest of the day, the kids continue with the new competition Naruto set for them, surprisingly keeping a fairly even score, without any one of them holding the lead for very long. The agreed upon timeframe was until the end of the day and they're close to it ending with no clear winner in sight.

As Naruto predicted, it did actually help them. In just a single day, they've made much more progress than before, getting progressively better at maintaining their footing while dodging. Maybe it's the desire to win or maybe they would've gotten it eventually, it's unclear, but their skills are even impressing the trained Mist shinobi with them.

Just as they try to up their games, their training is forced to be interrupted.

As the ship passes by a somewhat small island, the last piece of land before reaching the former Land of Whirlpools, Hinata calls out for everyone's attention. "There's a ship docked on that island."

"Ship? Where?" The lookout calls from the crow nest, looking frantically through his binoculars.

Hinata Flickers up next to him and shows him the location. "There's an inlet by the south-east side, it's docked there."

"Is it one of ours?" The captain asks.

"No, it's different from the Land of Water's ships. There's a crew of 11 and they aren't wearing any sort of uniform. They have a prisoner, as well. Man, late-20s to early-30s. He's tied up in the lower deck."

"Do they have distinguishing features?" Chojuro asks.

"They're…" Hinata's eyes widen. "Oh no."

"Hinata?"

"Curse Marks. The crew all have Orochimaru's Curse Mark."

"Chojuro." Naruto turns to the team leader.

"Yeah. Captain, get us as close as you can. We'll walk the distance on foot so as to not alert them. Hinata, don't let them out of your sight. If they even think about moving, we need to be ready to react."

"Understood."

All hands on deck, the crew swings into action to steer the ship toward the island, where Orochimaru's experiments can be investigated further.

* * *

**Name meaning**

_Saizo Kyorin_ (杏林 サイゾ _, Kyōrin Saizo_ ) = _Saizo_ \- named after legendary ninja and member of the Sanada Ten Braves, Kirigakure Saizo. _Kyorin_ \- 'apricot grove'; like all members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, his surname is derived from a type of produce.

**Trivia**

Ganryu is from Episode 242 of Naruto Shippuden (part of the " _Paradise Life on a Boat_ " story arc).


	36. Chapter 36

**HIDDEN MIST RECOVERY III**

The docking was the easy part. Well, docking might not be the most apt description. Because the shinobi team all headed off toward the inlet, the ship actually stopped some distance from the shore and they ran over the water to get to land. This way, at least they ensure that the crew will have time to react in case any enemy slips past.

The crew, while not shinobi, are still competent combatants, and Awaji is a trained shinobi. Retired, but trained. Then there's the kids, who might be strong enough, but if the enemies have Curse Marks, there's no way they'd be a match.

The plan is simple- go in and take them out.

Team Chojuro is currently running through the trees making their way toward the inlet where Hinata saw the group had docked. They haven't moved much since, with some group venturing inward and others returning.

Hinata has her Byakugan trained on them. "They seem to have set up a base at the inlet. They seem to be looking for someone. ' _He's not there, either.'_ they say."

Chojuro raises a brow. "How do you know? The Byakugan only gives the user a visual, correct?"

"Oh, I can read lips." She explains. "I can't pick everything up but I can manage well enough here."

"That's certainly a handy skill to have at your disposal." Kiri compliments.

"Then I better watch what I mutter under my breath, huh?" Naruto laughs.

"Alright, keep us posted on any changes, then. See if they give anything more on this 'he' they're looking for." Chojuro orders.

Hinata nods, "Right." and continues to keep her eyes focused on the Curse Mark holders, observing their movements. Two of them are sitting under a large tent and appear to be the leaders, or at the very least the ones everyone reports to once they return. Some of them keep watch around the perimeter they've set up, while one is sitting on the ground, hands in front of his torso, in the 'Ram' hand sign.

As the Mist-Leaf group approaches, the Cursed that's been sitting the entire time whips his head exactly in their direction. For a brief moment, it feels to Hinata as if he looked directly at her.

' _Intruders coming fast'_ , she sees him mouth to the others as they already begin to prepare.

"They've spotted us!" Hinata calls out. "They know we're coming."

"Damnit." Chojuro curses. "Was that one guy a sensor?"

"No," Hinata shakes her head, "He definitely wasn't using sensory abilities, I could tell that much." She continues observing them. "He doesn't have our exact number, but he estimates there's 3 or 4 of us. He has an estimate of how far away we are."

"What do we do, Captain?" Kiri turns to his superior.

"They don't know that we know. We can use that to our advantage. Whatever ability that man used, it's apparently not perfect; they don't know our numbers, most likely don't know our chakras."

"I could just rush them." Naruto chimes in. "Kick 'em down before they even know what hit 'em."

"While I do support brute force, I believe there's another option for now. We can save the rushing for stage two." Chojuro then turns to Hinata. "You can see with your Byakugan through anything, correct? Cover it with your headband so they're not alerted by it when they come to intercept."

"How do you know they will?" Naruto asks.

"They will."

Just as predicted, three Cursed make their way towards them, having been informed of the intruders' location. They move quickly and silently, showing themselves as competent, if nothing else.

The entire time, Hinata observes them and conveys their movement. They seem to have no idea who they're approaching.

The Cursed hide among the trees and bushes. They may be hidden from the naked eye, but the Byakugan is anything but. Their group approaches the ambush, fully aware of it and ready to pounce.

They move closer.

And closer.

**[Hiramekarei: Release]**

Chojuro's sword ignites with chakra, ripping the wrappings off. He grabs the two handles with each hand and swings at a tree, sending a sickle of chakra flying, slashing the flora in half. The man hiding behind it falls dead in a single hit.

Naruto and Hinata break off on the opposite side where the other two are hiding. Hearing the commotion, they scramble to go on the offensive.

"Shit, what the fuck happened?!" One of them screams out as half of his body becomes covered in black lines, the clear signs of a Curse Mark.

"Doesn't matter, just kill 'em!" The other's body goes through the same change, save for the differing pattern.

Just as they go to swing, their enemies disappear from sight.

"Huh?" They both look around, and just barely from the corner of their eyes do they see two figures standing behind them.

Naruto and Hinata gather their chakra around their hands, ready to unleash their jutsu.

**[Gentle Step: Lion Fist]**

Purple chakra surrounds Hinata's hand, taking on the shape of a lion, flaring with all the ferocity of one. She hits her mark directly on the back, sending the lion to engulf him entirely, burning his chakra pathway.

**[Massive Rasengan]**

The large ball of spiraling chakra demolishes everything around it, ripping into the trees, the ground, but most importantly- it's target. The Rasengan hits him square in the back and the force twists and contorts his body on the outside, and the less is known about his insides, the better.

Both of them fall dead to the ground.

Hinata immediately focuses her Byakugan back to the inlet. "They're aware they were taken down, but uncertain as to what their status is."

"Is it based on smell or something? Can they sense our footsteps?" Chojuro grunts. "In the end, I suppose it doesn't matter. Naruto." He calls out to the blonde. "Now we charge in."

Naruto smirks.

-x-

The Cursed scramble about their makeshift headquarters, preparing for battle.

"So what can you even tell us?!" One of the supposed leaders shouts at the pseudo-sensor.

"I already told you everything I know! I heard 'em get taken down but I dunno if they're alive or not!" The pseudo-sensor protests.

"What the fuck good is your heightened hearing if you can't even tell us something that basic?!" The other man raises his voice.

As they argue, the sound of crashing trees cools down their tempers. As they quiet down to try and understand what they heard, a gigantic figure jumps out from the cliffside above the inlet. A translucent orange fox, nine tails flowing behind it, comes flying right at them.

"What the fuck?!" They exclaim in both confusion and fear.

The orange fox disappears, leaving in its place three figures to come flying down toward them. Naruto in Sage Mode, Hinata with her Byakugan active, and Chojuro with Hiramekarei out, rush into the confusion.

"You useless moron!" The leader pushes aside the man he was just arguing with, and activates his Curse Mark. They all do.

Patterns of differing designs cover either the left or right side of their bodies, power surging through their bodies. Naruto immediately recognizes the power as natural energy, except… twisted. It's not being gathered, as much as it's being violently ripped. It's obvious to him these people aren't aware of the power they wield.

-x-

Naruto's first target is the one who saw them coming earlier. Unfortunately for the Cursed, he got too distracted by the argument and didn't focus his chakra. That was his first mistake; it allowed Naruto to use Kurama's avatar to sprint to the inlet in a matter of seconds.

The Cursed swings but Naruto dodges up, using the fist that was coming toward him as a spring. It's an odd sensation. Sage Mode allows him to better react to his opponents, having an innate understanding of how and when they'll move by reading the air around them. This guy's a bit different. It might be because he can sense a diluted, almost corrupted, natural energy from their Curse Marks that doesn't allow him to read them properly.

Naruto flips over and grabs onto the man's shoulder. "Got good ears, huh? Then listen to this." Naruto breaths in and lets out a low rumbling sound, guttural and from the throat. The rumble becomes louder and very much sounds like a toad's croaking.

**[Sage Art: Frog Call]**

The sound hits the man right in the ears, enhanced by whatever ability he possesses. The man screams in pain and falls to his knees, clutching his ears as blood drips between his fingers. After a moment, he faints, and Naruto turns to face the other Cursed coming toward him.

The flesh on his forearms has extended into sharpened blades, taking on a very metallic appearance. Like a whirling dervish, he swings his arms, a sharp sound filling the area as his literal arm blades cut through the air. Naruto takes a stance with his Frog Kata and pushes away his attacks, either striking at the attacker's arms with his palms, or blocking with his armguards, which bend slightly under the pressure.

Naruto tries to get some distance between them but the Cursed keeps close, he tries to gather chakra in his palm to form a Rasengan but the Cursed doesn't give him enough time to focus. Eventually, he manages to get a second away. Just like before, he breaths in and his voice rumbles.

Recognizing the noise, the Cursed jumps back and covers his ears. "As if I'd fall for that!"

**[Fighting Tongue Slash]**

Where the man expected a croaking sound to pierce his ear, when Naruto opens his mouth something else comes out instead. There isn't even time to see it, it's so far. As he racks his brain to try and figure out what the Leaf ninja did, he feels a pain in his shoulder. He looks down to see it completely severed, and the pain only now hits him.

Naruto reels back his tongue, much longer and thicker than normal, enhanced by his own natural energy. The Tongue Slash is a tricky one to pull off, and one can easily hurt themselves doing it, but it's also probably his fastest attack in his arsenal. Now, it allowed him to stop a fairly speedy enemy in his tracks but not fully put him out for the count.

Naruto Flickers closer to the man clutching his shoulder that's still hanging on after being cut by the tongue, but just barely. Naruto delivers a hit to the head, knocking him out.

-x-

Hinata wastes no time in Flickering right in front of one of the Cursed. He tries to grab her head in his massive paws but she expertly twirls out of his way. He tries to grab her hair which lashes out behind her but in a trained move, she whips her head to pull her hair out of the way. He grasps at air.

Hinata ducks under his arm. **Two palms.** She strikes at his heart and stomach. **Four palms.** Another two hits on his shoulders. **Eight palms.** She dances in front of him, keeping an elegant footing even as she pushes him back with each successful hit. **Sixteen palms.** Her arms are barely visible, they move at such great speeds. **Thirty-two palms.** The whirls around her target, just in time to dodge several thorn-like projectiles that were aimed at her. Her second assailant jumps where she was just now, thorns regrowing on her back like a hedgehog, but Hinata's shifted her position again, all the while continuing to strike at her first foe's chakra points.

**[Eight Trigrams: Sixty-four Palms]**

Hinata sends her first target flying through the air after delivering a blinding series of lightning fast blows. He goes crashing into the hedgehog woman who's blown back with her unconscious companion weighing down on her.

She pushes the dead weight off of her and tries to get back up, but a violet blur is already on her. She swings her arm with the force of a cannon but Hinata ducks and deflects with her Gentle Fist. The Hyuga thrust her other hand to the woman's head, sending a pulse of chakra through her brain.

**[Gentle Fist: Palm Bottom]**

The woman falls on the ground for good this time.

-x-

Chojuro unleashes Hiramekarei's hammer form, crashing at his foe. By far the largest of the Cursed present, built like a brick outhouse and arms the size of cannons, he plants his feet in the ground and tanks the hit. Just barely. The hammer strikes him in the chest but he manages to reach over to grab Hiramekarei's blade and hold on through the pain.

"You're gonna need a lot more than that!" The Cursed wheezes, blood spurting from his mouth.

"You don't sound very convincing." Chojuro retorts.

A second attack approaches behind him, her belly and throat glowing hot red, her cheeks puffed out. The woman breathes fires onto Chojuro. He has nowhere to go. His blade is in the clutches of his enemy.

Or so they think.

Chojuro separates his two blades, leaving only one of the twinsword Hiramekarei behind. He spins around, going behind the large man, and with an enhanced blade slashes across his back, leaving behind a large gash. The Cursed cries out in pain and is propelled forward from the attack, right into the flames. He quickly catches on fire and tries to put it out, but another slash in the back sends him to the ground.

"Boss!" The fire-breathing woman cries out, watching it happen before either of them could react. Seething with anger, she prepares to breath fire at Chojuro again. Unshaken, the Swordsman channels his chakra through his sword. With a powerful swing, he sends multiple rod-like projectiles made of chakra hurtling right for her.

**[Bloody Mist Sword Art: Bone Mutilation]**

The projectiles ember in her body and into her chakra pathway. The alien presence makes her chakra act, the fire still inside her runs wild with her having lost control. She cries out, and the fire burns her from the inside.

-x-

The three of them regroup having finished their respective battles.

Chojuro still looks on alert. "Anyone else around?"

Hinata shakes her head. "No more Cursed, just the pri...soner…" She trails off when she checks up on the man in the ship. Last she checked, he was tied up and unconscious, and yet…

The prisoner steps out on the front of the ship. "You wasted two days of my time, Chojuro."

They all look up to see a man, as Hinata described visibly in his late-20s to early 30s, bald with the side of his head, down past his ear, burnt. He's dressed only in some shabby rags that hang far too loosely off him.

Chojuro squints. "... Saizo?"

"You know this guy?" Naruto asks.

Saizo Flickers down next to them, rolling his shoulder and cracking his neck. "What're you doing here, kid?" He then looks over Naruto and Hinata. "And who're these guys?"

"Uh, right." He first decides to introduce his colleague. "This is Saizo Kyorin, he's currently the only other Ninja Swordsman of the Mist." He then introduces his current team. "And these are Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga of the Hidden Leaf, we're on a mission together to reach the Hidden Whirlpool Village."

"Ah, yeah, think I heard something about that. Right, I remember now. You're the big war hero."

"Yeah, that's me. So how'd you get captured by these guys, anyway?" Naruto looks back to the bodies laying on the floor. "Didn't think they'd manage to nab a Swordsman of the Mist."

"They didn't." Saizo is quick to correct a misunderstanding. "I let them capture me, 'cause I wasn't getting any good intel otherwise. Knew they've been looking for some source of power but couldn't find out what."

"A source of power, huh? Is it because they couldn't fully use their Curse Mark?" Naruto scratches his chin.

"What do you mean, didn't they use it?" Chojuro turns to him.

"I mean, they kinda did, but that's not the full extent of it. If you can really use it, then your body goes through these really weird changes and you become way stronger than before. I've fought some who can use it properly, and honestly these guys can't even hold a candle."

"So they were super weaklings?" Saizo clicks his tongue. "Here I had my hopes up for them."

"More or less. Honestly, we were lucky they couldn't use it. It's really nasty."

"What power could they hope to find on this random island?" Chojuro crosses his arms. "There should be nothing here as far as I'm aware."

"Maybe Orochimaru has a secret lab out here?" Saizo stretches his arm, trying to get a bit more feeling back into it. "He's managed to slither his way into a lotta places, and the Land of Water's a good place to do it. We can't very well keep an eye on every damn little island."

"But why did they even need a prisoner in the first place?" Hinata questions. "How does a prisoner factor into them gaining more power?"

"Think they wanted someone to send out as a lure, whenever they found what they were looking for." Saizo shrugs. "Worked well enough for my purposes, until someone ruined my plans."

"Who did that?" Naruto cocks his head. "Oh, wait, that's us."

"Yeah, that's you."

At this point, Kiri comes walking out the woods, having heard the commotion is over to look over any potential injuries. "Ah!" He stares at the new figure. "Lord Saizo! You're here, and you're hurt."

The medic walks over and immediately begins treatment. Saizo has a few injuries across his body, from his two stay stint as prisoner which Kiri does his best to mend, although rest will be needed to finish the process.

While here, Chojuro's team looks around the makeshift camp and the ship for anything useful. They do indeed find a crudely drawn map of the island and certain locations crossed off. Hinata notices that she observed through her Byakugan groups of two or three returning from those directions. They're scanning the area and have finished about ⅔ of it. Meaning that whatever they're looking for, if it's here, might be in the final ⅓ that they'd yet to explore.

Chojuro gathers the group together. "We can finish their search, at the very least. If something is going on, we need to know about it."

"Let's not forget," Saizo stands himself up, to the protest of the medic, "That this is my mission and I was on the right track until you showed up."

"Then we can just work together, can't we?" Naruto looks between them. "Now that we're here, anyway, we have no reason not to."

Saizo snatches the map from Chojuro's hands and turns to the ship. "Just don't get in my way." He disappears for a few minutes and returns fully clothed.

In place of the rags, he now wears his Hidden Mist uniform. A long sleeved striped shirt under his flak jacket and a pair of black trousers, with white wrist warmers that reach below his elbow and leg warmers. For the most part, the Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist of olde wore similar attire, and being raised in that period, he emulates their style.

His bald head is now covered by bandages that also loosely wrap around his head. The bandages also cover the left side of his head, hiding the burn marks, and he wears his forehead protector as a bandana around the bandages.

By far the grandest addition to his wardrobe is the large blade by his side. The hilt goes up to what looks like a scroll case, with two blades from its sides. One blade is much shorter, while the longer side is covered in explosion tags. They don't call Shibuki "the Blastsword" for nothing.

"Let's go." Saizo

The group of now five make their way further into the island, following the map they found in camp. Hinata continues to use her Byakugan to seek out anything out of the ordinary that may have been of interest to people once under the rule of Orochimaru but nothing catches her eye in these early stages of their search. Even though the Byakugan can see afar, it still has a limit to its range, and they at the very least need to move forward to increase its scanning area.

"What even drew you to this island?" Saizo asks. "Said you were going to the Hidden Whirlpool, didn't you?"

"We were, but Hinata saw an unauthorized ship docked here, filled with people possessing Orochimaru's Curse Mark, so we came to investigate."

"I apologize." Hinata says meekly. "I saw they had a captive, but I was not aware you were one of the Ninja Swordsmen. I didn't properly describe you to our captain. Had I done so properly, we might not have ruined your operation."

"Yeah, maybe you should've thought of that."

"Hey, man, we had no way of knowing who you were, alright?" Naruto jumps. "Usually doesn't matter what the hostage looks like, so why describe it?"

"I can list you plenty of factors that make descriptions important. I suppose the Leaf's education is… lacking."

"You tryin' to start something?" Naruto glares.

"Alright, that's enough." Chojuro breaks it up. "We have a task to focus on."

"Assuming they can focus on it." Saizo mutters under his breath.

Naruto evens his pace to Hinata's, who looks dejected at her costly mistake. "Hey, don't listen to that guy, alright? We'll put things in order."

"Yeah." She gives him a light smile, more out of courtesy than anything.

The group continues their search before something happens about twenty minutes in. Suddenly, a terrible sensation comes over Naruto. He feels sick, on the verge of throwing up, despite not having any problems at all. He stops on a branch and props himself up on the tree, taking a moment to catch his breath. He begins to feel dizzy but shakes it off to some extent.

"Naruto?" Hinata runs to his side. "What's the matter?"

Chojuro, Saizo, and Kiri go to him, as well.

"I don't know, I just… don't feel too good all of a sudden." He tries to catch his breath. "I feel like I'm gonna be sick."

"Were you hit by something?" Chojuro looks around, almost expecting some sort of ambush. "No, at the very least Hinata would've noticed something."

Kiri goes up to him, hand surrounded by chakra, and inspects Naruto, first palming his forehead, then checking his pulse, his eyes. "I don't see anything out of the ordinary. You're not poisoned or anything. You should be as fit as a fiddle."

"Sure don't feel like it." Naruto tries to laugh.

"Is it an enemy jutsu? But how would they affect only you, and why only you of a team of five?" Saizo crosses his arms.

Hinata stares at Saizo, processing his words. Calculating.

Saizo uncomfortably looks back at her. "What?"

"Naruto, is it natural energy?" She asks.

"Natural energy? Lemme check." Naruto sits down in a meditative state and gathers whatever natural energy he can. He can already tell that Hinata's hunch is right. Something is terribly wrong here but he wasn't able to fully pick up on it without being in Sage Mode.

When he opens his eyes, the sensation is somehow worse. If the Curse Mark felt unpleasant, then this is putrid. He felt natural energy being disturbed by those guys but this is on a whole other other level. Natural energy is being sucked into a single point, and he knows exactly where it is, and he might also know _who_ it is.

Naruto points south-southwest. "He's over there."

"Who is?" Saizo asks.

Naruto looks to the two Swordsmen. "Please, could you leave this to me?"

They both look puzzled at Naruto's request and share a contemplative look.

* * *

About 2 kilometres from their spot, Naruto leads them to a deep cave within a cliffside. It's somewhat well hidden, the only entrance being just barely wide enough to let them squeeze in, and from most angles it doesn't even look like an entrance to anything. However, this is where Naruto sensed the natural energy being ripped to.

Naruto leads the group, with Chojuro and Saizo following in close behind him, followed by Hinata, and Kiri manning the rear.

As they get closer, they hear loud guttural yells. Almost animalistic in nature but the odd sound makes it clear this is, in fact, a person. Someone in excruciating pain by the looks of it. The closer they get, the more the yells echo through the cavern.

"This is a terrible idea, Chojuro." Saizo whispers in-between the yells so he can be heard.

"If Naruto says to leave it to him, we can trust his judgement. If this is about natural energy, he's the expert here."

Naruto slowly and carefully walks into a large open cavern, where the pained cries are coming from, with the rest of the group taking cover. Hinata has her Byakugan trained to make sure things are going well.

In the room, Naruto sees a man thrashing around on the ground. His skin like earth in both colour and texture, his body is anything but human. His forearms are enlarged, much thicker than his biceps, with a sharp spike extending past the elbow; on his back are lined protrusions that almost resemble stalagmites, in rows on his left and right side; his forehead has deformed into what resembles horns. The only thing left from his human side is his orange hair.

"You're… Jugo, right?"

Jugo whips his head on hearing someone approach. He'd been so absorbed in his thrashing that he never saw or sensed Naruto until now.

"You..." He growls. "Kill."

"No, no killing. I'm here to help. I just… need you to stop what you're doing, alright?" Naruto extends his hand and begins inching his way closer. "I'll come to you, alright?"

Behind, Saizo grips Shibuki's hilt. "Damnit, it was that guy?"

"But why is Jugo here? He's supposed to be imprisoned in the Land of Iron." Hinata asks.

Chojuro shakes his head. "He was but when we transferred Suigetsu Hozuki, he managed to escape. Been in hiding ever since. To think he was out here…"

Jugo's voice grabs their attention. "Kill you! Maim you! Slaughter you! Crush you!" He yells out each word louder and louder.

"I feel like those are more or less the same thing, but okay. Hrmm… What do I gotta to make this work? Work with me, buddy."

"DIE!" A blue light flashes at Jugo's soles and he's instantly propelled at a great speed toward.

Jugo cries out and swings at Naruto, who manages to just barely duck out of the way. The wind pressure alone is almost enough to blow him back. Jugo swirls around mid-air and comes crashing to a halt in the stone wall.

Before Jugo can move again, a cloth writhes its way into the room, covered in explosive tags. It snakes its way toward him and releases a series of localized blasts. Not enough to damage the structure, thankfully, but a normal person will still feel it.

Jugo, however, is not normal.

Saizo enters the cavern, pulling back the cloth to wrap itself around the wider of the two blades, as new explosive tags are dispensed from the scroll.

Chojuro making his way behind, both Hirmekarei swords out. "Saizo, we were to wait!"

"Wait?! For this?!" Saizo does not hide his anger. "That's Jugo of the Fucking Scales. The so-called hero led us into a closed space with that monster, where I can't even use Shibuki to its fullest!"

Jugo interrupts the argument by propelling himself again, this time aimed at Saizo. Chojuro puts himself in front and blocks by crossing both his swords as a makeshift shield. Jugo impacts with tremendous force, causing Chojuro to skid back.

"Wait, don't hurt him!" Naruto calls out.

"I don't think we're being given a choice." Chojuro grunts, trying hard to keep hold of the swords.

Jugo's flesh begins to shift around his elbow. Where previously there was a spike, it morphs into a cylindrical shape. With a blue glow of chakra between the cracks, the cylinder plunges further into his arm, sending a shockwave through his fist.

**[Piston Fist]**

Chojuro is blown back against the wall, crashing hard. Kiri comes out to help him up and heal his injuries.

Saizo, meanwhile, takes this chance to swing. The best part about Shibuki is that you don't necessarily have to hit your opponent. When the sword gets close to hitting Jugo, who tries to block with his thick arm, Saizo activates the tags, sending an explosion right in his face. The trained Swordsman knows exactly how to position himself so he's not caught in the blast and can make the best use of it. He can even ride the blast to shift his position, which he does now to deliver another series of explosions.

Jugo's arm reaches out from the smoke in an attempt to grab Saizo by the head.

**[Gentle Fist: Vacuum Palm]**

Hinata's hand reaches out from behind Siaoz, over his shoulder, and sends a blast of wind pressure at Jugo who's sent flying back.

Naruto immediately rushes in to intercept him and keep him away from the rest. When it comes right down to it, senjutsu is the best way to fight senjutsu.

Jugo swings his massive fists while Naruto nimbly dodges, trying to land in the occasional hit. When he goes low to thrust at Jugo's chest, the larger man sees an opening and slams his elbow in Naruto's back who is not able to dodge in time. Naruto does manage to land a hit but it's nowhere near as impactful because of how much pain his back is in.

Hinata Flickers to him, trying her Gentle Fist to block Jugo's chakra points. Naruto and Hinata fight side by side, dodging as much as they can. Hinata proves more than capable of keeping up with Jugo's enhanced attacks, although it's touch-and-go at times. She's incredibly fast, and only gotten faster with time, to the point where she might outspeed Naruto if he doesn't rely on Sage Mode or Kurama.

"Hinata, get back!" Naruto calls out.

She does exactly that as Naruto jumps high in the air with a frog-like leap, trying to get Jugo's attention.

**[Sage Art: Frog Call]**

A loud croak fills the cavern but only Jugo is truly affected by the sudden blast of sound. The rest do hear a very irritating noise but because it's not directed at them, they get by without suffering its effects. Jugo is stunned in place, which gives Hinata enough time to get right in his face.

**[Eight Trigrams: Sixty-four Palms]**

She delivers all hits with lightning fast speed but she meets far too much resistance. Jugo roars and swings his arm, only lightly catching her shoulder, but that's more than enough to send her flying back and crying out in pain. Her arm hangs limp.

"It didn't work?!" Naruto puts himself between Jugo and Hinata, once again engaging him in close combat.

' _This is like the stories of the Teshin clan.'_ She winces in pain. ' _A body so tough not even the Gentle Fist can break through it.'_

Kiri immediately runs over and sets her shoulder back in place, placing a hand over it to heal the lingering pain as best he can given the urgency.

This time, Naruto reaches into his pouch and takes out a kunai. A tri-pronged kunai that was left behind on Mount Myoboku so many years ago. He channels his chakra through it and hopes it's enough to at least slow him down.

It's not.

The kunai does leave marks against the tough hide but it's almost immediately healed. This won't work.

Chojuro and Saizo jump. Hiremekarei slams into Jugo in its hammer form and sends him flying back, where Shibuki wraps its explosives and detonates.

"Kill. All of you!" Jugo yells. The spines on his back grow bigger and twist to point forward. The openings in them begin to glow blue.

Naruto's eyes widen as he feels the natural energy gather at an immense rate. "Defend!"

**[Cursed Self Chakra Cannons]**

Multiple beams of bright light shoot at them and in random directions. He's lashing out in anger at this point.

The rest don't really need the ability to sense natural eneergy to know this is not an attack they can easily survive.

**[Sage Art: Massive Rasengan]**

Naruto places his signature jutsu in front of himself as a shield.

**[Tenseigan: Chakra Spears]**

Hinata's pale eyes turn cyan and she immediately fires the spears made of pure chakra that form around her arms.

**[Mist Sword Art: Bunker Blast]**

Saizo unleashes a series of large explosions from the sword to keep the cannon blasts from reaching him.

**[Mist Sword Art: Heavy Stamp]**

Chojuro brings his twin swords together into their Hammer form to try and hit the blast back.

When everything dies down, the group groans in pain as they try to get back on their feet. Saizo's strategy worked well enough. He's taken a heavy hit but dusts himself off. This isn't the time for a rest. Chojuro's hands are shaking but he's keeping his composure. Naruto and Hinata are the most well off, as is Kiri who was protected by Hinata, with their special abilities but were pushed back, as well.

Having already activated her Tenseigan, she prepares her chakra spears for another throw.

"My Gentle Fist couldn't pierce his hide, but the Tenseigan might. I just don't know how it will affect his unstable chakra. It may end up killing him." She looks to Naruto.

Saizo growls. "Do it."

"We can't do that!" Naruto protests. "He's just not himself, he doesn't deserve to be put down like this!"

"As much as I'd like to agree with you, Naruto, I don't see a lot of options. Either we end him, or he ends us. Our only real chance is to drain his chakra, and if even the Byakugan can't do it, I don't see what else could."

"... I think I do. Cover me." Naruto bites his thumb and smears it across his palm. He slams his hands together and begins weaving chakra. "This'll take a bit."

Jugo comes flying at them with a gleeful cackle.

"Not asking for much, are you?" Saizo runs over to intercept him with an explosion, while Chojuro comes from the other side keeping Jugo occupied with both blades. Dual wielding might weaken their overall effectiveness, but right now they just need to stall.

Kiri stands behind Naruto and focuses his healing on him to bring him back to as good a shape as he can. "You focus on your jutsu, I'll take care of your injuries."

"Thanks."

Hinata joins the fray with a mixture of hit-and-run tactics and using her Hyuga arts to strike at him from afar, although she's deactivated her Tenseigan before its effects cause her eyes pain.

Jugo brings his arms together, crossing them over his chest, and the flesh begins to shift again. His forearms take the form of a tower shield. He swings his arms in a wide sweeping motion to try and get some distance between himself and his three attackers.

Jugo moves past, going right for Naruto.

"As if!" Saizo roars unleashes the largest explosion yet. The blast covers a large and sends both Jugo and Saizo flying back. The Swordsman might be trained in using it but his opponent didn't give him enough time to properly position himself for it. He had to act quickly to keep Jugo from getting to Naruto. "Hurry it up, kid!"

The wild man slams his fist in the ground in anger and propels himself forward with chakra.

"Naruto!" Hinata calls out.

Just before he can reach, Naruto slams his hands on the ground.

**[Ninja Art: Summoning]**

In a puff of smoke, both Naruto and Jugo are hidden from view. A moment of silence takes over the cavern that had just been a cacophony of yells and grunts.

Jugo is sent flying back, crashing onto the ground. His form is disturbed. The additions to his body are not as prevalent now, having shrunk in size. Jugo holds his chest in pain, where a single circular indent is present, his rough hide pierced by something.

"Honestly, boy, what have you gotten yourself into this time?" An elderly voice sighs.

"Sorry, Pa. I'll need your help again." Naruto gives an embarrassed laugh.

The dust clears, revealing Fukasaku standing on Naruto's shoulder, clutching a small staff in one hand.

"Yeah, I already figured that out." Fukasaku winces. "This natural energy… so dark and twisted."

"Can you knock it out of him, like you did with me during training?"

"I can but it'll take a few whacks. I didn't have time to put enough force into it since you summoned me right in his face."

Naruto laughs nervously. "Sorry 'bout that." He then immediately brings his arm to a more than familiar hand sign.

**[Shadow Clones]**

Four more Narutos appear in front of him, ready to fight.

"You guys stay back." Naruto calls out to the rest of his group. "We'll take it from here."

One Clone stands behind another and places a hand on his back, connecting their chakra. The Clone at the front, weaves his chakra and puffs out his cheeks.

**[Sage Water: Toad Water Pistol]**

He releases a violent torrent of water. Jugo brings up his arms to defend himself, flesh once more shifting into a shield. The pressure is enough to push him back with great force

Jugo once more charges his cannons, readying them for another strike as he's being hit by the torrent, but this time Naruto won't give him the time. A third Clone has already gotten close. He focuses his chakra in his mouth and opens wide.

**[Fighting Tongue Bind]**

His tongue, much thicker than before, lashes out and wraps around Jugo's legs, tripping him up and causing him to land on his back, disrupting his gathering of natural energy.

The original Naruto and the final Clone leap over the fallen Jugo and begin croaking.

**[Sage Art: Frog Call]**

This stuns him in place just long enough for Fukasaku to dive in and hit him with the staff enough times for his modified body to shrink. His rough brown hide turns to a much softer pink with each strike, his human features eventually returning back to normal.

Jugo falls unconscious. Maybe it's the overuse of natural energy. Maybe it's the getting continuously whacked part.

Everyone breathes a sigh of relief and falls to the ground from exhaustion.

"You could've led with that, kid." Saizo stills keeps Shibuki at the ready. Just in case.

Naruto laughs. "I'll keep it in mind next time."

Fukasaku stands on Jugo's chest, patting the man gently. "Poor lad. To have been under such an influence…"

Hinata walks over to Naruto to make sure he's alright. "So what do we do with him?" She looks over the passed out man on the ground.

"I'm… not really sure. We could take him with us for now?"

"On the ship?" Chojuro walks over, as well. "Is that wise?"

"What else could we do with him? We can't just leave him here, and he needs help."

"As if we have anywhere to keep him safely." Saizo asks.

"But we at least now know he can be contained, if necessary." Chojuro looks at the toad. "Um, excuse me, mister..."

"Fukasaku, Sage of Mount Myoboku." The elder toad answers the unasked question.

"Myoboku? That legendary place. I guess it's no surprise you took him down so easily, then."

"Hrm, easy it was not, boy. Doing that took over a hundred years of training." Fukasaku taps his staff on the ground. "Do you need me for anything else, Naruto?"

"Um, actually, I was kinda hoping you might stick around a bit? Just in case Jugo acts up again?"

Fukasaku sighs. "Very well, I suppose I could. Just make it quick, Ma's preparing rhino beetle and centipede stew."

Naruto gulps. "... Yummy..."

"Still, I must say, Naruto, you were right about us being lucky with the guys from before. If they could do even a fraction of the stuff Jugo could…" Chojuro yelps as Kiri comes over to heal his wounds.

"So just to make it clear, we're actually taking this monster with us?" Saizo asks.

"Yes! Look, I know he didn't make the best first impression, but from what I've seen of 'im, he's not usually like this. He just can't control his power."

"You mentioned it's sage power, right? Like the thing you were using. How're you even so different?"

"Well, I dunno how to explain it." Naruto crosses his arms and thinks. "Ah. Think of like harvesting, right? When I harvest, I carefully pluck out the produce to not damage it. Those guys back there were just violently ripping everything out. But Jugo…"

Fukasaku laughs. "Using that analogy, this lad isn't even harvesting, he's being buried beneath the soil."

"Dunno if I was gonna go there, but that works, too. He had all that power piled on him and he couldn't keep it in check."

"And we're supposed to trust he won't go berserk again?"

"Naruto…" Hinata's voices comes out quietly. "As much as I want to help, I can't help but think about the kids. If a fight breaks out on the ship, there's little we can do…"

Naruto gently places his hands on her shoulders. "I know it's not the safest, but if something happens this time, we can be there before it begins to stop it. We just gotta help him stay calm so he doesn't take in too much natural energy. I can keep watch on that, at least."

"But without Elder Fukasaku, do we even have the ability to?"

Fukasaku groans. "You're planning on bringing this one on a ship with the kids?" He facepalms. "Alright, fine, I'll stick around as long as I can; make sure he doesn't act up anymore. For the little ones."

"Thanks, Pa."

With that decided, the group with an additional Hidden Mist shinobi, a toad, and an unconscious giant of a man head back to the ship.

* * *

Jugo stirs awake. Before he fully comes to his senses, he notices a rocking sensation. He's swaying to and fro for some reason. He blinks and opens his eyes to find himself lying on a cot inside what appears to be a cell, or better put- a cage.

His eyes widen in shock, remembering only that he was previously safely in a cave, away from anyone he could harm. He grabs the bars of the cage and looks around in a panic for anyone around but sees no one.

' _No… No, please tell me I didn't do something…'_ He presses his head against the cage. ' _I was alone, there was no one I could've hurt…'_

"Good morning, boy."

A voice catches his attention. He looks around again. No one's here.

"Down here."

Jugo follows the voice's origin, only to see a… toad… Fukasaku waves.

"I… where am I?" Jugo racks his brains to try and remember but comes up with nothing.

"You're safe, don't worry."

"No, you don't understand. _You're_ not safe!" His breathing intensifies, worry coming over him again. He rattles the cage. "I have to get out of here. I have to get away from you!"

Another voice joins the conversation, accompanied by the creaking of stairs. "You're not a danger to anyone here." Naruto walks over by Fukasaku's side. He turns to the small toad. "I sensed a shift in natural energy when he woke up."

"Hah. Impressive." Fukasaku looks proud.

"You're… Naruto Uzumaki, right? You're Sasuke's friend. What happened to me, why am I here?"

"You mean you don't remember?" Naruto scratches his head. "I guess it's no surprise, you were really hyped up on natural energy. Honestly, we kinda just randomly found you. We fought and managed to knock you back to normal and bring you back here."

"You mean you managed to stop me? Revert my transformation." Jugo is still processing the information.

"Well, I did that." Fukasaku raises his staff.

"But it was like a team effort, y'know?" Naruto adds.

"What… will happen to me now?" The wildling lowers his head.

"For now, we have a little trip to take to the Hidden Whirlpool Village but after that… Hmm… How tired are you of running?"

Jugo lets out a light laugh. "The entire reason I went to Orochimaru is because I was tired of running away. I needed some way to keep my other self in check."

"Then how about you go to the Hidden Leaf village?"

"I suppose the Leaf might have a prison that could hold me." He sounds resolved to his fate.

"Not as a prisoner. As a citizen. We have people who might be able to help you, keep you in check, and maybe even help you control yourself. I'm not as good at the sage arts as Pa or Ma but I can show you the ropes. Teach you to reel it in."

"That's not possible, I've tried!" Jugo is uncertain. It almost sounds too good to be true. ' _And yet, looking at him, why do I want to agree right away? Kimimaro… I thought Sasuke was a lot like him, but maybe I was wrong...'_ He takes a moment to collect his thoughts, his emotions, his memories of everything he's been through. His breath becomes shallow, his eyes- wet. Droplets fall to the ground inside his cage. "Please help me."

Naruto smiles. "Of course."


	37. Chapter 37

**HIDDEN MIST RECOVERY IV**

Jugo breaths in the salty sea air. He closes his eyes and lets the breeze blow over his face and through his hair. "This is nice. For the first time in a while, I'm not afraid of being around anyone."

Besides him, Naruto and Hinata keep him company as he gets used to his newfound freedom and sanity.

"Odd thing, I kinda get where you're coming from." Naruto pats him on the back. "It won't be an easy path, but it's worth overcoming your monstrous side."

A booming voice echoes within his side. " _ **I feel like that was a jab at me..."**_

In his mindspace, Naruto chuckles and looks back to Kurama. "Sorry."

"Not even Orochimaru could keep it under control. I worry that it's simply not possible." Jugo looks down.

"It's possible Orochimaru didn't want you to keep it under control. If he was using your power to create the Curse Marks, that's a major power-up for his subordinates." Hinata smiles reassuringly. "But now you're among people who truly wish to help you."

"Yeah… maybe you're right." Jugo smiles back.

"Just hold on a bit more, alright? When we get back to the Hidden Mist, I'll talk to the Mizukage about setting you free. Then Pa can look into your… condition, whatever it is."

"I'm afraid I'm not entirely sure myself. I know my clan could innately channel these special powers, and were wiped out for it. Can't really blame people for being afraid of us."

"Fear clouds the mind. It drives one to act in a certain way, not considering the possibilities." The wind blows Hinata long locks behind. "Had we allowed that to happen to us, we wouldn't have come to rely on Elder Fukasaku's aid."

"And I'm very thankful for that."

Naruto turns around and lightly bumps his first against Jugo's shoulder. "No need. You get used to the fresh air, I'll go check up on the rest."

-x-

_Meanwhile_

"So who's the new guy again?" Kotori leans in to whisper to the boys, observing Jugo from afar.

"Sensei said he's a friend that needs help." Yokumaru plays with the end of his sleeves. "But the other new person doesn't seem to like him."

"Yeah, but that guy's scary." Shoto crosses his arms. "He's got sharp teeth."

"Chojuro does, too." Kotori cocks her head.

"But he has a goofy face so they're not as scary."

Yokumaru chuckles. "I didn't think you'd be scared."

"I'm not scared! I just said he's scary. You can think things are scary without being scared!" Shoto protests.

"Uh huh. Sure." Kotori smirks.

"Yes." Shoto scowls.

"Ah!" Kotori jumps to her feet, scared. "We weren't talking about you, Mister Saizo!"

Shoto violently whips his head around to where Kotori was looking, already half positioned to make a run for it.

There's no one there.

Kotori begins laughing.

"That wasn't nice, Kotori." Yokumaru is more worried about Shoto's reacting than he is of the Swordsman.

Shoto fumes and gets right in Kotori's face.

"Don't you brats have anything better to do..." Saizo's voice startles them. They freeze in place. "Didn't you have, like, training or something?" They turn around to see Saizo lying on the railing of the ship, looking over the side.

' _Since when has he been there…'_ Shoto gulps.

Saizo turns his head and looks at them with cold eyes. "Well?"

"Ah, yes, sir!" They begin speed walking toward the centre of the ship, just as Naruto finishes his conversation with Jugo, and bumps into them.

"Hey, guys." He greets the kids.

"Let's train!"

"Yeah, training!"

"Now!"

"Um… okay?" He raises a brow and looks back to where they came from, eyes meeting with Saizo who just shrugs. "Well, we kinda had to interrupt your competition 'cause of our pitstop."

"Well, we kinda decided to finish that on our own." Kotori says with a nervous smile.

"Oh? And who won?" Naruto looks between the three of them. Yokumaru raises his hand. "I see." He grins and ruffles the boy's hair. "And what did you all gather from that?"

Kotori smiles. "That's what the game was for, right? Learn from each other."

Naruto laughs. "Didn't think you'd figure it out."

She puffs out her chest. "Of course I did!"

"Well, I did most of the figuring, you just finished my sentences." Shoto side eyes her.

"No, I let you start mine!"

"That doesn't even…" Shoto shakes his head. "Whatever." He turns to Yokumaru. "Yokumaru took his time to study our movements, while Kotori and I relied on barrages. He waited for the opportune time when our chakra control wavered."

"But you guys took action and went for it. Taking small losses for a big win." Yokumaru rubs the back of his head. "Main reason I won is because I took so long with my turns so we had less time to do it, so you didn't have as many opportunities to score."

"Yeah, but that's the game, too, right? Part of the strategy is using your time wisely and slowing down your enemies. Like in a real battle." Kotori chimes in.

' _That's not something I thought of, but sure.'_ Naruto still nods sagely. "The next part will be using jutsu while climbing, so better get ready."

"That may have to wait." Awaji walks over behind Naruto. "We've nearly arrived."

"Whirlpools!" The watchman shouts to the crew who gets into position.

The Land and the Hidden Village do not get their name from nothing. The landmass is entirely surrounded by violent maelstroms that swallow any ship that dares think itself brave enough to venture this far. It would take a crew of the highest calibre to navigate through the aquatic mindfield that they're approaching, and while the present crew is good, they would not make it.

That's where the Uzumaki clan enter the picture.

"Captain." Awaji calls out. "Get us as close as you can without killing us."

"Will do. Sure hope you know what you're doing."

The crew make their preparations to go further in, where no sane person goes. They navigate as best they can to position themselves toward an opening between two whirlpools but when they get close, they can already feel the current drag them in.

"Naruto, I would ask that you share your chakra with me. What I am about to perform may be a bit beyond my years."

"Of course." Naruto places a hand on the older man's back, channeling his chakra into his elder.

Awaji focuses his chakra, powered by Naruto's, and weaves the hand signs he's not woven in decades.

**[Secret Water Style: Calm Storm]**

A ripple spreads from the ship in all directions, followed shortly by another. The waves, despite being much lighter and calmer than the raging whirlpools, overpowers them and lessens the effect of their pull. As another pulse goes out from underneath Awaji, the whirlpools begin to gradually slow their speed, until several moment later and several more pulses later, they come to a stop.

The water lies still as if there was never any whirlpool nearby, and the ship passes safely.

Once they get to the other side, Awaji releases the jutsu and the whirlpools return.

"Wow." Naruto looks back at the raging waters. "I didn't know something like that existed."

"It is how we kept our Land safe from intruders, until it was apparently no longer enough." Awaji pants as he sits on the ground. "I don't remember it being this exhausting, however."

"You rest up for now, gramps."

Naruto goes to regroup with the others and make sure everything is in order for their docking and journey into the abandoned Land. From afar, it resembles any ordinary island in the region. Lush green trees line the entire landmass, with the shores lined with large cliffs save for the few beaches suited for docking.

Soon, they will arrive in the Hidden Whirlpool Village.

* * *

Somewhere within the island, past the lush trees, past rivers and lakes, a group of three lies in wait. They all bear featureless clothes- dark blue to black shinobi wear, a standard protective vest that belongs to no village, their faces protected by fearsome oni masks. Three of them, only distinguishing trait being their red hair, stand guard with a chameleon on their shoulders while the fourth member of the team sits down on the ground and opens an empty scroll in front of himself.

They're currently amidst the ruins of a once powerful and respected village. Where once tall and wide brick buildings once stood, they now lie destroyed. Most walls and roofs have long been blown away, revealing metal pipes that act as a support structure. There's nary a few metres of even ground, as most every inch is covered in rubble in some fort or another. The few buildings that do remain upright have long since lost their lustre, their paint peeled off and their windows shattered, they're only a vague reminder of what once was a proud nation.

Takeshi Tokage writes in the scroll. ' _Naruto Uzumaki and Awaji Uzumaki have arrived. We don't have time to look any more.'_

After several moments, writing appears on its own. ' _Then likely Hinata Hyuga will be with them, as well. Stay as close as you can while staying out of her Byakugan's range. Not even you can hide from that.'_

' _And if they do actually find something?'_

' _Take it, by any means necessary. If there's even a single piece of paper that would be useful to them, we need to get it.'_

' _Understood.'_ Takeshi rolls up the scrolls and straightens himself, returning his scroll and writing implements back to their respective pouches. "We have our orders. Fall back and observe for now."

"What could they possibly find that we couldn't?" One of the red heads says in an almost mocking tone. "One of them doesn't possess a fraction of Lord Kaidomaru's knowledge, and the other one hasn't even the faintest idea about his heritage. If we couldn't find anything left behind, they won't, either."

Takeshi sighs. "The faith you have in his abilities is wonderful but remember that your precious Lord Kaidomaru didn't get to where he is by underestimating his opponents. I should know, I was there to see him get to where he is." He turns back and walks past them.

Takeshi Tokage is not a man to show off. He's more of a go with the flow person. As a spy and member of the ANBU, being in the spotlight was never his desire but something made him want to put on a show. He makes it a point to stop by the one who questioned Naruto and Awaji's abilities shoulder-to-shoulder, turning to look him in the face, or mask in this case.

"Now, will you follow his orders or question them?" And Flickers away. ' _I don't like how the Uzumaki clan is beginning to act. They're almost fanatical in their confidence by this point. I sure hope you know what you're doing, Kaidomaru…'_

The Uzumaki grunts and follows, as do the other two.

* * *

As the visit to the Hidden Whirlpool Village is technically more a request than an official mission, Chojuro, Kiri, and the newly acquired team member Saizo are to stick back on the boat. Meanwhile, Naruto, Hinata, Awaji, and the kids will venture into the village and seek out… well, anything, really. Jugo is coming along with the village team, so Naruto can stop him in case he acts out again.

The ship does actually manage to get further into the island via a river that connects to the wide sea around it. They travel through it for a bit, now much closer to the nature surrounding them.

The kids in particular keep an eye out on the wildlife that has managed to thrive in this land with the disappearance of the people. They see a group of chimpanzees hop over from tree to tree, taking a heavy interest in the strange thing that is travelling on the river.

"Ah! Look!" Kotori points to one a bit further in the back. "That one has a baby on its back! Is it the mommy?"

"They're so cute." Yokumaru giggles, seeing the curious creatures.

Saizo spins a kunai on his finger. "You guys wanna get a closer look?"

"NO!" Kotori jumps to grab his arm. He allows her to do it; he wasn't being serious to begin with.

He just chuckles and walks away, as Kotori puffs her cheeks in frustration.

"Never mind that." Shoto pulls her attention to something else within the trees.

They see a flock of birds fly overhead. Fairly big in size, at least for a bird, with a mostly yellow belly which they get a full view of, and blue back with a dash of green. The big contrasting point being their white face, decorated with black markings.

"Oh, I know that one!" She quickly rummages through her pack, taking out the little book she was given all the way back in the Hidden Cloud village. A book listing the limited information on her ancestors and their abilities. She flips through the pages containing descriptions and even depictions of various birds her clan has been known to summon. "Here it is! It's a macaw!"

"That's correct." Awaji walks over next to them. "They're a very intelligent bird, we had many in the Hidden Whirlpool. I imagine they've taken over the island now, as have the others." He looks down to Kotori and her book. "Your abilities involved conjuring avians, correct?"

She cocks her head. "... Avians?"

"Birds."

"Oh, yeah! The more I know about them and the better I control my chakra, the better I do." She embarrassedly scratches her chin. "So far I can only summon them young, though, so they're not as strong. Excerpt for sparrows 'cause they're so tiny and easier to summon."

"Does it actually matter what bird you summon, though?" Yokumaru leans on the railing.

"It does, actually! Or… it will, when I get better at it." She flips through the pages. "Apparently they each have a special ability. Like the ostrich is suuuuper strong, and hawks and falcons are suuuper fast."

"So can these macaw do anything?" Shoto asks

"Hmm… I dunno. The book doesn't actually give much about them."

"Well," Awaji brushed his long greying beard, "If your abilities actually involve enhancing what attributed the birds naturally possess, then the macaw can actually learn the human tongue. Perhaps with your jutsu, you can somehow empower their ability to speak."

"Wait, they can talk?!" Kotori's jaw drops to the ground.

"That's ridiculous, birds can't talk." Shoto dismisses the very thought of it.

"Neither could toads until we met sensei's." Yokumaru chimes in.

Shoto can only let out a few grunts as he tries to come up with a retort. He can't.

"Well, it's something to consider. If that book doesn't tell you something, then you tell it instead." He chuckles and walks off to prepare.

The river unfortunately doesn't go all the way to the Hidden Whirlpool. Along the way is a settlement that has also been rendered to a ruin, and the fallen buildings have blocked the river. Water still flows through it and marine life can go between the rubble but ships cannot pass any further in. The rest of the trip will be on foot.

The team designated for village travel hops off on land and follow their guide.

"I hope you find something." Chojuro waves them off.

"Yeah, me, too. Keep the ship safe." Naruto grins and gives him a thumbs up.

They move into the forest. Still following the river as it leads to their destination and is an open, easily traversable space. It doesn't actually take them long. Less than an hour travelling at a good speed.

There, for the first time, Naruto gets a look at the remains of his mother's home. The destroyed Hidden Whirlpool Village stands before them, although 'stand' might be a generous term. There are still some defensive walls that remain but sections have been blown away and the remaining parts have been long overtaken by vines.

Naruto takes a deep breath, taking in the sight, his mind going over the possibilities of how this all could've happened. Hinata takes his hand, and he looks to her with a smile. At least he's not seeing all of this alone.

They walk closer, passing through a ruined section of a wall as the legitimate way of entering the village when it was still functioning has been caved in, ironically enough.

As they step foot in the village, Awaji sighs, bracing himself. "I have been to this village many times before, desperate to find traces of anything I could take back with me. To my knowledge, everything has been taken. However, I am certain that we will discover something."

"Certain, why?" Naruto asks.

"A select few of us had a special task given to us by Lady Mito. She asked us to research the seals of our ancestors from the ancient past but never told us why or for what purpose. She took all that we gathered and simply told us that one day we would need it, and to rely on the future. I still to this day do not know what she did with that information except that it was given to her father, Lord Ashina for safekeeping." He turns to Naruto with a serious expression on his face. "Until recently I did not know what she meant and wondered if she truly had something in mind. But then we received news from Lord Tsuchikage. We received news that you'd gone back and spoken to Lady Mito."

"Yeah… from the Temple of Stone's Song. But it's not like we actually found something out."

"Perhaps not. However, I am now certain it was through meeting with you that drove Lady Mito to seek information that will help us in the present day. Information that has been waiting for 50 years. Waiting for you, Naruto Uzumaki. Lady Mito's attempt to help us from the past."

"Okay, but I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to know what to even do. I'm not even familiar with my own clan's history or deeds, why me?"

Having activated her Byakugan and searching through their immediate area, Hinata answers. "The Temple is the key, isn't it, Elder Awaji." He nods in response. "You were able to enter the Temple when no one else could, except for Lady Mito."

"Yes, that part remains a mystery, still." Awaji scratches his beard.

A deep voice sighs within Naruto's mind. " _ **I think I might know the answer… Let me out, Naruto"**_

Confused, Naruto forms a Shadow Clone. As he's done before, Kurama inhabits this one, giving it blood red eyes and more defined facial markings.

"You're… The Nine-Tailed Fox, I presume?" Awaji looks on with curiosity.

" _ **You presume correct, boy."**_ It looks a bit weird to hear such a deep voice come from Naruto's face.

The Uzumaki chuckles. "It's been long since anyone has called me 'boy'."

"You said you know why, Kurama?"

" _ **Yeah. I'll put it simply. The one thing that connects you and Mito is that you're my jinchuriki. That's why you were able to enter the Temple."**_

"That couldn't possibly be it. Lady Mito entered the Temple long before she became your jinchuriki. I can't see how you could be the connecting point in this instance."

" _ **That's right, but you're missing one crucial piece of information. I know the person who made the seals, and she was a Seeress. If she peered into the distant future and saw my fate, she would know about Mito and Naruto."**_

Hinata stops looking through the wreckage of the village and focuses her attention on the conversation. "But you said this Tamamo lived several hundreds of years ago. Even if she could somehow see into the future, could she see that far ahead?"

Kurama shakes her head. " _ **Not on her own, no. But… after we parted ways, she apparently went and became a Great Beast."**_ He takes a moment to pause, gathering his thoughts and emotions. He takes a deep breath and continues. " _ **If she was empowered by Tailed Beast chakra to that extent, then she may have boosted her own abilities before she ended up… like that, and left behind clues for my jinchuriki. That's HER way of helping from the past."**_

"So she somehow made it so that only we could enter the temple and learn the secrets?" Naruto asks.

" _ **Yeah."**_

"That still doesn't explain why I could enter, or the kids." Hinata mentions.

"Seals, by their very nature, are a set of restrictions and rules. They can be tweaked to have certain exceptions." Awaji explains.

Kurama turns to his host. " _ **You saw her in the end, didn't you, Naruto?"**_

"Yeah. She mentioned family…" He looks at Hinata, and then the kids who all seem confused from this conversation.

" _ **She was sentimental like that. Anyone you consider family can also enter with you."**_ Kurama turns and starts heading into the village. " _ **Come on, we won't get anywhere just talking."**_

Jugo looks around nervously. "I feel slightly out of place in all of this."

"It's alright, Jugo." Naruto reassures him. "This is our deal, right? We stick together and help each other. We'll do what we gotta and leave."

Jugo nods. "Right."

The group spends a great deal of time just looking through the wreckage, trying to find any hint of important seals that could be placed somewhere. Awaji does know the ins and outs, having already looked through every nook and cranny before, so he first takes them to the places he believes are the most likely to be the hiding place chosen by Mito and her father Ashina. Neither of them sense or see anything.

There ARE seals placed everywhere, but have been inactive for a while. Hinata can clearly see them as many are placed in such a way to be invisible to the naked eye.

Naruto even enters Sage Mode just in case, while Kurama uses all of his senses to search. Even the kids help clean through the rubble, as does Jugo who takes more of a babysitting role as this goes on.

Awaji does take the time to show some places of more… sentimental value. He takes Naruto to see the main town square that once hosted grand festivities and gathered people from the entire Land. Banners would hang above the streets and tables of food would line them, with performers keeping the crowd entertained. He shows them his old home, and also… Kushina's.

They stand in front of what doesn't even look like an apartment complex anymore. This part of the village is by far the most destroyed.

"And this is where Kushina lived in her early years," Awaji looks at the ground in contemplation, "Before she was sent to the Hidden Leaf."

Kotori stands by Naruto's side. "So your mom lived here, right? I guess that makes her my grandma?"

"Yeah." Naruto purses his lips into a smile. He leans down and pats her on the head. "I'm sorry you couldn't meet her."

"What was she like?" She looks up.

"I… don't really know, either. I only met a memory of her. I grew up an orphan, too, remember?"

Kotori stiffens her shoulders. "Oh. Right. Sorry."

"It's fine. From what I saw of her, she was strong and brave, beautiful and fierce, and wasn't afraid to fight back when she needed to. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you really were related to her." He grins.

Kotori smiles and rests her head on Naruto's side.

Naruto takes a deep breath and turns to Awaji. "You said… you kept in contact with a lot of Uzumaki, right? Did my mom… have any family?"

Awaji shakes his head. "I'm afraid not. Her family perished along with the village."

"I see…" He lowers his head, his bangs throwing a shadow over his face.

"Naruto…" Hinata whispers his name and approaches to comfort him.

Naruto whips his head up and puts on a visibly fake smile. "Alright, let's check somewhere else, yeah? We don't have a lot of time."

"Yeah, alright." Hinata smiles back, a comforting smile. When it comes right down to it, if he needs for support, he'll ask for it. Best she can do now is be here for him.

One of the last things that Awaji shows them is a place connected to Mito. Her own childhood home. The official residence of the leader of the Uzumaki clan showed no result, but they did have a separate home.

And here, Hinata does see something. A seal placed underneath a seal. Different from anything else in the village, different from any seal she'd seen before except for two other places- the Temple of Stone's Song and the Prism Keystone.

"This is it!" She calls out, gathering everyone's attention. "The same seals as the ones created by Tamamo."

" _ **Hm. So Mito did leave something behind, after all…"**_ Kurama crosses his arms. " _ **Now we just need to figure out how to activate it."**_

"You mean you don't know?" Naruto turns to his cohabitant. "You seem really knowledgable about things up until a certain point, huh?"

" _ **Look, I can't help what I can't help! It's not like I know what either Tamamo or Mito did."**_ The Fox defends himself.

"Actually, wait, why don't you? You can see through my seal just fine, right?"

" _ **Hers and yours are vastly different. Mito's seal was much more suppressing. I had no awareness outside my immediate area within the seal."**_

"But that's… terrible…" Naruto looks to him sympathetically.

" _ **Well, it's like you said, right? Fear drives people to act in certain ways."**_ He looks back to both Hinata and Jugo.

Meanwhile, Awaji kneels down and begins carefully inspecting the seal. "Please allow me to offer my apologies, Kurama. My clan took it upon ourselves to keep you at bay, without considering your thoughts, or even trying to."

" _ **What's done is done."**_

Not really certain what he can do, Naruto simply places a hand on the wall where the seals are hidden. And just from the, the visible seals glow and burn away, revealing the hidden seals underneath, which continue to glow. They form a rectangle on the wall, which becomes filled with smaller seals , filling up every inch of what was just an empty space.

When Naruto reluctantly touches it, his hand passes through. He quickly pulls his hand back out and looks to the rest.

Awaji stares at it. "That's… very curious."

" _ **And also insultingly easy to activate."**_

"Well, is it truly easy when only one person that we know of is capable of doing it?" Awaji asks. "Lady Mito must have modeled it after the seals at the Temple. Now, I'll try to determine whether it's safe to-" As he looks away for a moment, to go through his pouch of sealing scrolls, a blur rushes past him. When he looks up, Naruto is nowhere to be seen and everyone is staring wide-eyed at the formulae resembling a door on the wall. "He… didn't, did he?"

Kurama sighs. " _ **Well, his Clone didn't disappear so I guess it's fine."**_ And he just walks into the wall.

Awaji doesn't have time to protest before Hinata, the kids, and Jugo follow in. The old man sighs and enters last. "If we get stuck in there, I'm not taking the blame."

-x-

In the far distance, Takeshi and his group remain ever vigilant. They've managed to escape being sensed or seen thus far, and have been keeping as best an eye as they can given the uneven terrain their targets have been moving around in.

They've been patiently lying in wait until they finally see the group discover something they'd been unable to.

One of the Uzumaki growls as she clenches her fist. "There's no way we missed that."

"And yet we did." Takeshi lowers his telescope. "We were right. Naruto Uzumaki is indeed different."

Another Uzumaki slams his fist against a tree. "He can't even begin to comprehend what it means to be an Uzumaki, what our people have had to go through just to survive. Compared to that, being a jinchuriki is nothing."

"Then let's go and tell him." Takeshi stands and cracks his neck. "When they leave with whatever they find inside, we attack and take it."

-x-

Within the sealing space is a very simple room, if you can even call it that. It's a very small enclosure that can just fit their entire group. Inside, the walls are lined with seals and the only thing present besides themselves is a scroll hanging on the wall.

Naruto looks at the scroll and then back to Awaji. "Think it's safe to just grab it?"

" _ **Oh, NOW you ask if it's safe?"**_ Kurama lightly smacks him on the head, before de-summoning the Shadow Clone he's been inhabiting to free some room in here.

Awaji sighs. "I don't see why she would entrap this space if the entry wasn't."

Naruto shrugs and takes the scroll off the wall. As he does, a figure begins taking shape. Translucent and only from the waist up, but the elegant form of Mito Uzumaki appears before them, hands in front of her and tucked into the sleeves of her robe.

' _I've long since wondered as to the fate that binds you and I.'_ The image begins speaking, taking everyone by surprise.

"Lady Mito, is that you?" Awaji's shaking hand reaches out.

' _However, it is likely that it does not matter. All that does matter is that we accomplish what we must.'_ The image of Mito continues speaking, not taking in anything being said or done.

"It doesn't look like when dad or mom left behind a part of themselves in my seal."

"I was perhaps too hopeful…"

' _I spent years since our meeting trying to uncover the forgotten secrets of what you asked of. I've surmised that if you did not know, then something must have happened to the Hidden Whirlpool Village and the Uzumaki clan, lest you would have sought answers from them instead.'_

" _ **Annoyingly astute as always."**_ Kurama growls from his mind space.

' _In anticipation for that, I asked the ones I trust the most to gather information so that I may preserve it for you, so that hopefully it may survive whatever future awaits my people. Thanks to them, I was able to decipher some of the scroll I showed you.'_ Mito closes her eyes. ' _How I wished to inform them, to tell them that something may happen. However, to do so would have been to tempt fate in ways I cannot comprehend, and so I have chosen to suffer in silence.'_

' _I knew beforehand of the true nature of the Great Beasts, a secret kept well hidden among the Uzumaki, a secret that is only passed on to a select few. The truth that they are ones who meddled too deeply with Tailed Beast chakra and sought power beyond their comprehension or ability to control. In the centuries since, we have perfected our craft and people came into being called jinchuriki. Such did not exist during the days of the Great Beasts.'_

" _ **Back then, we were actually free."**_

"Didn't you say 'what's past is past'?" Naruto looks back in his mindspace, doing a very poor imitation of Kurama's expression and voice. "Sounds like you hold some resentment."

" _ **I'm allowed to comment as I see fit."**_ Kurama huffs and turns away.

' _I have been able to uncover some truths of the world past. The one who held these truths was Tamamo Otsutsuki, who vanquished the Great Beasts behind the Rashomon gates, with the help of Agni Otsutsuki and Varuna Otsutsuki.'_

"The Otsutsuki clan again?" Hinata looks worried.

"I guess they're descendants of the Sage?"

' _They worked together to put an end to the terror sowed by the Great Beasts. Tamamo through her mastery of seals and ability to manifest her chakra and give it physical form, Varuna through his all-seeing eyes and ability to see the truth of the world, and Agni through his eyes that can channel the powers of the Netherworld that lie beyond the Rashomon. They were able to combine their strengths and use their jutsu as one.'_

"Manifesting chakra, that has to be the Uzumaki clan's ability?" Awaji guesses.

"Yeah." Naruto nods. "She's the descendant of the Uzumaki clan."

"The all-seeing eyes, that… that's the Byakugan, yes?"

"Gotta be. But eyes that can channel the power from this netherworld…" Naruto grumbles. "The only other eyes I know of is the Sharingan but… can it do that?"

' _The Uzumaki clan has been able to manifest our chakra since as long as we can remember. Giving them the power to crush anything that stand before them, to seal and hold in place, to drain our foes of chakra. However, the ability that Tamamo Otsutsuki speaks of, is one I have never heard of prior. Adamantine Chains that connect people in ways that the Yamanaka clan cannot- chains that allow you to not only share your thoughts, but also shares your experiences, your senses, ... your abilities. Chains that allow you to even use a kekkei genkai as long as you are connected to one that can use it. I have studied long and hard but such an ability has proven beyond my abilities. I hope it is within your reach, one whose name I do not know.'_

"That sounds unbelievable." Awaji ponders. "I've never heard of such a thing, either."

' _Agni would channel the strength of the Netherworld, which Tamamo would amplify his through her own abilities, to open a pathway between our two realms. Then, Varuna would peer with his eyes to determine whether it is safe to do so. It is they who created the Rashomon gates' and connected our worlds. Just as it is they who found the Great Beasts' weaknesses. Nothing could escape Varuna's watchful eyes. He saw how the Tailed Beasts' chakra coursed through the Great Beasts and weakened its influence enough for Tamamo and Agni to pull it into the gates and seal it away.'_

"Sounds like you'll be playing a part in this, Hinata." Naruto glances over to her.

"There was never any doubt." She smiles to him.

' _Of course, all that I reveal to you are words that Tamamo Otsutsuki left behind for me to find. I can only surmise that the way to bring back the Great Beasts is the same method that was used to seal them. And to seal them back again, one would need the same set of abilities. Uzumaki, Hyuga, and another clan with an ability I do not know of, assuming of course they are a clan.'_

"About what we guessed, yeah."

' _I leave you with the scroll, with much of its information deciphered. Read it for yourself. See what you can uncover with your own eyes. Safe journeys, friend. I wish you luck.'_

With that, Mito's form disappeared and the room remains quiet for a few moments.

Yokumaru, oddly enough, is the first to break the silence. "I don't think I got most of that."

Naruto chuckles. "You and me both, buddy." He ruffles the boy's hair. "But now we can fight those big monsters, we know where to start and what we need to do. We can work our way from here."

"We should head back right away. We cannot delay any further with such crucial information." Awaji turns to leave the room, and everyone follows behind him.

-x-

Outside begins making their way out of the district they were in, with the intention of going back to the ship and returning to the Hidden Mist.

However, someone has other plans.

The group had all but relaxed after learning everything they just learned and are still processing all that information, piecing everything together. It's mostly for that reason that the enemy was able to get as close they did.

**[Adamantine Attacking Chain]**

Chakra, taken the form of chains, rushes at them with violent speed while they're distracted. Just barely, Naruto's reflexes allow him to see them mere centimetres away from them and manages to face his palm in that direction.

**[Massive Rasengan]**

The chains clash against the spiraling chakra and neither manages to truly overpower the other. The force behind the two jutsu causes a shockwave that blasts back Naruto and his group. Jugo, who was closest to the kids, shifts his flesh to enlarge his arm and create a shield for them, at the cost of not having time to form a shield for himself. He hits the ground hard, as does Awaji who was not able to brace himself. Hinata manages to skid to her feet but her back ends up hitting a wall. Naruto took the brunt of it and was blow a bit further back.

Before the dust settles, their group manages to quickly get back to their feet and regroup. They then see their assailant- their basic gear and oni masks not really giving away any particular allegiance but the jutsu they used for their surprise attack.

All three of them have spectral looking chains apparating from their biceps and wrapping around their arm, reaching all the way to the ground.

"That…" Awaji gathers his breath. "That was the Uzumaki clan's Adamantine Chains. Why would you attack us? We are Uzumaki!"

The man at front chuckles. "No, you're really not." He slams the chains on the ground and sends them to attack once more, but this time Awaji is prepared.

**[Adamantine Sealing Chains]**

His chains surround his group to form a protective dome that shields them from the Attacking Chains of their opponent, but the more passive chains do seem to give in as they're struck.

Jugo activates as much of his abilities as is safe for him while Hinata activates her Byakugan. While she expected to only prepare for the upcoming bout against these three, she actually sees a fourth presence- right next to Awaji, reaching for the scroll that's within his pocket.

In a hurry, she darts off to the invisible man, channeling her chakra in her hands. It flares with the road of a lion and she goes on the offensive.

**[Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fists]**

The invisible man dodges out of the way before he can accomplish his task and drops his jutsu. Hiding is no longer an option. He moves to the other side of Naruto's ground, where Awaji's Chains do not guard.

Takeshi clicks his tongue. "I took too long."

"Who are you guys?!" Naruto demands. "Why are you attacking?!"

"It doesn't really benefit us whether you know the answers to those questions." Takeshi forms a series of hand signs and slams his hand on the ground. "Just know that you're in our way."

**[Ninja Art: Summoning: Rashomon]**

A giant gate appears behind him. A familiar terrifying visage stares back at them as the massive chains that hang from its rafters fill the dead village.

Awaji's eyes widen. "No…"

"So, it's you guys…" Naruto grits his teeth and makes a dash for Takeshi.

**[Uzumaki clan Seal: Release]**

The gates open and send a chilling, howling wind to blow into the village. Into the realm of the living. Naruto's run is halted by the force of it but also the feeling of dread that overcomes him. Maybe it's just the presence that the Rashomon give out, or maybe it's the creature that comes out of the gates.

The first thing that's seen by those on the outside of the gate is a large pincer that grabs the gate and pulls itself out. A beak then pokes out and gives a terrifying screech and while it does have a long straight beak, it's face is anything but birdlike. With another pincer it pulls itself completely out of the gate. Its serpentine body slithers out, but instead of crawling on the ground, it flies through the air. It hisses and stares at Naruto.

Great Beast: Amikiri.

* * *

**Name meanings:**

Agni Otsutsuki (大筒木 ア _グニ_ _, Ōtsutsuki Aguni)_ = Vedic deity of Fire.

Varuna Otsutsuki (大筒木 バルナ, _Ōtsutsuki Baruna)_ = Vedic deity of Sky and Seas.


	38. Chapter 38

**HIDDEN MIST RECOVERY V**

Naruto grips his fist at the sight in front of him. The odd mixture of serpent and crustacean imposes its menacing form, only heightened by its ability to hover over them.

' _This is bad. So far we've only really fought against the Great Beasts, but now we have these guys… Shit, what are we supposed to deal with first?'_

Takeshi disappears from sight but Hinata still sees him clearly. She moves to intercept him as he makes a dash toward Awaji again, hoping to get past the Hyuga at the very least, thrusting her hand through the air and sending gust of chakra and air to blow him back.

**[Gentle Fist: Vacuum Palm]**

"Naruto, leave him to me! You take care of the Great Beast!"

Takeshi tries to maneuver in any way he can

"Yeah, but…" He looks back to Awaji whose barrier is struggling against the onslaught of what seems to be members of the Uzumaki clan. "Damnit!" He forms his signature seal.

**[Multi Shadow Clones]**

-x-

The entire area is filled with hundreds of Naruto who take charge. Many of them go upward, using the buildings to give themselves a bit more height to go after the Amikiri. They come at it from below, from the side, and some try to jump over it although that may be a tall order.

Amikiri swings with its claw, hitting some of the Clones, while with its other claw it snaps and ensnares another group of them. The ones who escape the fate of being dispersed, use this chance to hop onto its body.

**[Fighting Tongue Bind]**

Their tongues take on a much thicker appearance and lash out, wrapping around the creature's pincers and using the tongues to pull themselves up and on top of its back. Amikiri tries to shake them off by wriggling its body but they channel chakra to their hands and feet to hang on.

It tries to shake them off by slamming its back against a building, causing it to collapse even more than it already was. Some of the Clones manage to hop off in time and hop back on, others move out of the way just in time, while others are not as fortunate and are dispersed.

They try to position themselves on the same side of the creature's back and not be so scattered, so they can deliver a powerful blow. They all gather chakra at their palms.

**[Massive Rasengan Barrage]**

The Amikiri is sent falling sideways from the impact, losing its balance slightly, and crashes into a building.

-x-

The rest of the Clones go to confront the Uzumaki, coming in waves at them. The Uzumaki send out their chains to attack with impressive precision. Some of the Clones attempt to grab onto a few rectangular chains with the intention of pulling their user away, but the moment they come into contact, the Clones' chakra is drained and they disappear.

' _They can use the Draining Chains…'_ Awaji begins to sweat as he keeps focus on the shield he's created from his own chains. "Naruto! The rectangular ones will drain your chakra! The jagged ones have a higher attacking power!" He calls out instructions.

"Got it!" The Clones move on the defensive as the Draining Chains take on the role of a shield, ready to disperse any Clones that come near. "Let's see how good they are at absorbing chakra."

The Clones puff out their chests and let out a series of croaks that resonate off each other, boosting their strength.

**[Frog Call]**

They don't have natural energy to empower them, but this is a case of quantity over quality, and it seems to be working. They hold their ears in pain and fall to a knee but they're not out for the count just yet.

The largest of the three pushes himself back up and forms a hand sign, trying to ignore some blood dripping from his ear. His Adamantine Chains begin to shake, the sound of metal on metal filling the air and seemingly overpowering the croaking.

**[Wind Style Ninja Art: Rattling Chains]**

The jutsu seems to perform a similar task to the senjutsu Frog Call, being a diversionary tactic more than anything.

When the croaking stops, the shorter man places a hand on his companions' backs and their ears stop bleeding, they no longer seem dazed from the auditory jutsu.

-x-

During all the commotion, there are two Clones that stand back while the others push back the Great Beast and keep the Uzumaki at bay, and while Hinata makes sure the invisible man does not get any closer.. One of them sits in a meditative pose while another gathers chakra to perform a particular jutsu.

When it comes right down to it, these two are the important Clones. All the rest are merely a distraction until they can finish their work.

The latter Clone slams his hand on the ground and formulae spread from his hand.

**[Ninja Art: Summoning]**

A small toad hops from the smoke and immediately goes to Awaji and rummages through his pockets using its tongue. It grabs the scroll they'd taken from within the sealed space, gulps it down, and vanishes.

"Damnit!" Takeshi curses. ' _They got whatever they found to safety. This fight has already become fruitless.'_

"Doesn't matter." The larger Uzumaki cracks his neck. "All we have to do is grab the jinchurki or the old man and we'll know everything they know."

Awaji narrows his eyes. ' _They couldn't possibly mean…'_

"As if we'd let you." Naruto looks back with rage in his eyes.

"Oh, how scary."

The meditating Shadow Clone disperses, having accomplished its goal. When it does, all the others vanish with it. With Naruto's new chakra composition, he's no longer able to maintain that many Clones. With Sage Mode activated, he moves to perform the Shadow Clones again but Jugo stops him.

"Wait. Your chakra is distributed among your Shadow Clones, right? Keep yourself at full power for that thing." He motions to the Amikiri which is already rising back in the air, screeching. "I'll take care of these guys."

Naruto nods. "Alright."

Jugo steps out of Awaji's protective barrier, his flesh shifting to a dark grey and taking on an alien appearance. "Elder, please keep the kids safe from me."

"Very well."

-x-

_Naruto and Kurama vs. Amikiri_

The Amikiri flies upward in a spiral, screeching in what appears to be a fit of rage. It comes flying down right at the centre of the group, pincers at the ready to strike.

Naruto's clothes turn orange, surrounded by flame-like chakra. The flames expand further and further, growing a set of animalistic legs, a pointed snout, and nine long tails lashing out.

Kurama jumps, creating a forceful gust of wind as he leaves the ground, and grapples Amikiri. He manages to dodge one pincer and grab onto its base, but the other pincer snaps at Kurama's arm, completely severing the form.

Kurama grunts. " _ **It cut through my chakra like it was nothing."**_

"Then let's not give it another chance!" Naruto calls out and moves the nine tails in unison.

Two tails wrap around each pincer and close them shut, while the rest of the five tails wrap around its serpentine body. The added weight causes Amikiri to plummet to the ground, unable to fly with Kurama holding on. They impact some distance away from the rest, not wanting to get the others involved into the melee. Despite the hard crash, and being unable to really soften the fall, Naruto and Kurama still hold on tight.

Kurama's severed hand regrows and he tries to grab Amikiri's beak but it gives out a screech before he can. The sound pierces Naruto's ears and causes the chakra to loosen. Something about the sounds makes Kurama's avatar form start to ripple and become unstable.

Amikiri uses this chance to slither out its slimy body and fly up.

When the screeching stops, Kurama's form returns to its normal condition. "Damn. So that's what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a Frog Call." He shakes it off and stands up to his feet, albeit a bit shaky from the ear-piercing sound, and looks up at the creature, going over his next course of action.

"Well, if you're gonna stay there…" Chakra swirls around Kurama's paws.

The wind whirls and cuts through the air like a razor, letting out a screech that rivals that of Amikiri.

**[Sage Art Wind Style: Rasenshuriken]**

He throws his jutsu at the alien creature, swerving through the air as it flies directly toward it. Amikiri easily hovers out of the way but with a clenching of his fist, Naruto detonates it. The ball expands, creating a miniature localized tornado that's strong enough to push away rubble all the way down on the ground.

Amikiri gets caught up in the blast and howls in pain as its belly is buffeted by the jutsu. In pain, it reaches out its pincer and digs its claws into the ball of chakra and wind. It successfully cuts it in half, sending out a blast of air as it does.

As it turns around to look to Kurama, it sees another Rasenshuriken flying right into its face. There's not enough time to dodge this one, but there's enough time for it to extend its other pincer and grab the Rasenshuriken mid-air. The jutsu swirls and nicks at the pincers before detonating but it doesn't manage to reach the size and scope of the first one. Amikiri slams its pincer shut and cuts the Rasenshuriken in half.

When it pulls back its claw, it's clearly injured but nowhere near the extent it normally should be after taking a Rasenshuriken. Its crustacean half is rough as can be.

Kurama growls. " _ **This thing… It can cut through chakra."**_

"The hell kinda ability is that?" Naruto grumbles. "Wait, if it can cut through chakra, then… Aren't we kind of in a bad spot?"

" _ **Yeah. My avatar form, your Rasengan, they're all pure chakra. The exact bad matchup against this one."**_

"Then let's switch it up a bit." Naruto jumps up to get closer to the giant beast and lets out a croak, which looks rather odd coming from the mouth of a fox.

**[Sage Art: Frog Call]**

Amikiri does not react in any way as the sound waves hit it and it dives right into Kurama, sinking its claws into his stomach and into his shoulder.

"Damn, didn't even flinch?" Naruto grunts.

" _ **Well look at it! It doesn't have ears!"**_

"Oh…" Naruto just realizes.

Amikiri pushes Kurama down through the air with great speed, fully intending to slam him into the ground. A plan that's foiled when Kurama's form simply… disappears.

Amikiri lets out a bewildered squawk.

Kurama wasn't cut by the Amikiri's apparent ability and it wasn't that Naruto lost focus on the form. No, Naruto saw an opportunity. Because the Amikiri dove into Kurama's chest, that placed Naruto above it as he inhabits the area around Kurama's head while in avatar form.

Naruto released his avatar form voluntarily and now he stands right above the Great Beast, where he enters his Chakra Mode once more. Free from its grasp and in a more advantageous position.

Naruto wraps his tails around the pincers and its body, and curls his feet up to his stomach.

"This one I learned from Bee!"

**[Double Foot Stomp] ***

The impact as Naruto stomps down onto its back sends it crashing down into the ground. However, the effect of the Double Foot Stomp is somewhat negated. Its purpose is to crush the enemy's body, but the Amikiri being part snake does not actually have a lot inside its body to crush. No bones or anything of the sort.

So when they find themselves on the ground, with Kurama trying his best to keep it wrapped in his tails, it manages to slither its way out, using its slimy body to get free.

Kurama tries to grab it in his paws again, but it releases another powerful screech. Kurama's form wavers and it uses this opportunity to wrap its own body around Kurama and squeeze him right, digging its pincers into the chakra to sever his body.

Getting the idea from earlier, Naruto once again releases his avatar form, putting the serpent off-balance as it no longer is holding onto anything. Naruto uses its scaled body to propel himself away and jump to safety.

Amikiri does not give up its chase and sends a pincer down to strike at him. He does manage to get out of the way, but the wind pressure alone sends him off course. Its striking the nearby buildings also sends debris flying everywhere which Naruto does not manage to dodge all of. His senses are heightened when in Sage Mode, but the chaotic nature of the flying rubble makes it difficult to fully predict.

Some blood dripping from his head where a stone had hit him, Naruto gets distance between himself and the Amikiri under the cover of dust, and hisses in pain.

"It seems like it doesn't feel pain the same way we do."

" _ **It doesn't. It's moving about way too fast and way too well even after taking direct hits. We'll need a plan, or some back up."**_

"Well, the others are preoccupied right now."

Kurama clicks his tongue. " _ **But it looks like someone else has free time on their hands."**_

Inside their shared mindspace, surrounded by nine torii gates, Naruto looks to two in particular that display activity.

From the third gate marked with "三", waterflow drips in and out like a tide at the beach. The humidity has reached the torii gate itself as droplets of the water drip from the moistened wood.

From the sixth gate marked with "六", a caustic solution inches its way closer to the shared space in the middle. The ground hisses and sizzles as it comes in contact with the bubbling liquid.

-x-

_Meanwhile: Hinata Hyuga vs. Takeshi Tokage_

Hinata's form dances through the battlefield, the chakra gathered at her fingertips leaving behind a faint light like a gymnast's ribbon. Her movements are precise and elegant, her speed making her a deadly force to be reckoned with.

However, Takeshi Tokage is not one to be outdone. He manages to keep up with his swift opponent and then some, being able to react to the Gentle Fist with surprisingly skilful taijutsu of his own. When Hinata does manage to land a strike on him and close a chakra point, he immediately places a hand on the spot he was hit and sets his chakra back in order.

The faint glow around this man's hand is unmistakable. Medical jutsu. The mask is also unmistakable. This man and the other three, their masks have the same property as the one they fought all the way back in Kusatsu Town, who unleashed the Kappa. Whatever they're made of, not even the Byakugan can peer through to see their faces.

"Why are you doing this?" She sends a burst of chakra from her hand when she gets closer, trying to knock him off balance. "What do you gain from attacking us?"

"What we gain, girl?" Takeshi growls. "We regain our pride that you Great Nations stomp all over."

"The world's changing!" Hinata protests. "We don't have to keep constantly fighting, we can work on resolving things peacefully. The Shinobi Union is making sure of that."

Takeshi scoffs. "The Shinobi Union... It's changed nothing! The Great Nations snap their fingers, and everyone else is supposed to just follow their decisions like obedient mutts."

"It's nothing like that!"

Takeshi charges forward. ' _Damn, what am I getting all worked up over? The Uzumaki are getting to me…'_ He does an impressive job keeping up with her, striking with deadly precision.

He can't allow to be hit, but equally Hinata can't allow herself to get hit, either. She can clearly see the structure of the medical ninjutsu in her hands and it is NOT made for healing. One strike can be lethal when the person striking know the human body inside and out.

In terms of flashiness, their battle definitely take a backseat, relying on speed and precision. They keep chasing each other over the rubble, trying to get the other to slip up, to step on the wrong spot, to wave for even a moment. Neither of them does.

Takeshi gets some distance between them, trying to use this chance to make a dash, but Hinata tries to get him from afar. She thrusts her hands forward, creating a surge of wind.

**[Gentle Fist: Vacuum Wall Palm]**

He manages to get out of the way just in time, but the pressure still catches him and throws him off balance. Hinata immediately pounces on the chance and surrounds her hands in purple chakra, the sheer force of her jutsu roaring like a lion.

**[Gentle Step: Lion Fist]**

Takeshi grunts and thrusts his own hand forward in the very last second. Their palms clash, Lion Fist meeting Chakra Scalpel. Hinata tries to get her jutsu to push through before Takeshi can do any damage, but the man is skilled enough; his jutsu began working the moment their hands touched.

**[Nervous System Rupture]**

She can feel her body not responding right. A tingling sensation washes over her body, her hand being the starting point of it all. ' _No… I have to… push through…'_ She struggles and tries for a moment longer, but her chakra is disrupted.

The two of them part. Hinata's fingers twitch and her hand shakes as she tries to get her feeling back. Because of her own chakra clashing, the effect was dulled but she still doesn't have an arm to fight with. Takeshi isn't looking too good, himself. The Lion Fist did manage to get through, even if he countered it. The chakra in his arm is disrupted.

' _This is already a waste of time and effort. There's no point in continuing.'_

He raises his other remaining hand and forms a set of quick one-handed seals.

**[Ninja Art: Light Refraction]**

A blinding light surrounds Takeshi and bursts out from him. It only lasts a brief moment, but it's enough to force Hinata to look away, especially with her heightened eyesight which would increase the effectiveness of the technique. It's not a powerful light by any means, but it's enough. When the light vanishes, Takeshi has already retreated.

-x-

_Meanwhile: Jugo vs. Uzumaki_

Jugo takes a stand in front of Awaji's barrier who's still focused on keeping the children safe from harm. The wildling takes a deep breath and activates his power to the best of his extent. He leans down and propels himself by emitting chakra from his feet, becoming a cannonball.

The largest Uzumaki steps in front of his companions and sends out a group of Adamantine Chains to halt Jugo's progress. He manages to steer himself away from most, but some do clash right into his body, but Jugo tries to push through the pain, which in turn leaves him open for the chains that he dodged to come back and wrap around him.

"I don't know what you are but even you can't break these chains." The Uzumaki mocks.

Jugo grunts. "I don't need to break the chains, I just need to break you." At a great speed, he flies up.

Going to the sky, he takes the chains with him as they're tightly wrapped around him, and eventually the chains end. The Uzumaki tries to drag him down but Jugo releases his output of sage energy to overpower him.

"Pull him down!" The man orders as he struggles, feeling himself being lifted up his feet

The other two send their chains up to try and pull Jugo down, but he manages to fly up just in time, pulling the large Uzumaki with him.

"Sento!" The woman cries out as her companion is dragged upward.

Jugo gains considerable heights, pulling the Chains with him, before he stops and switches directions to now go downward. He chakra emitted from his feet boosts him in the opposite direction and he crashes into Sento Uzumaki.

Sento makes sure to keep hanging on. "You bastard, you'll kill us both!"

"That's fine with me." Jugo hits the man on the chest, both to get in a strike but also to hold on. His hand enlarges and his fingers extend past the man's chest, creating what resembles a harness. "I'd resolved myself to this fate years ago. At the very least, in the end I found someone willing to help me, willing to look at me as if I was a person. If I can take down at least one of you, then I will!"

"I don't need your fucking lifestory!" Sento gathers a chain around his fist to form a knuckle and hits Jugo on the forehead. He starts to bleed but does not let go of his enemy.

Sento continues to pound on him while Jugo focuses his energy on increasing their speed.

Before they impact, Jugo closes his eyes, prepared for what's to come. ' _Thank you, Naruto.'_

**[Ninja Art Aviary: Condor]**

A large predatory bird, easily twice the size of Jugo who's practically a giant himself, lunges directly at them and snatches the from the air before they can impact. It grabs onto Jugo's shoulders and jostles them slightly, which makes the two falling let go of each other. Sento falls to the ground with a thud, while the condor flies back to Awaji's barrier and lets Jugo down on the ground.

Heavily panting, Kotori releases her condor. She falls to her knees and tries to catch her breath. An adult condor, especially one as oversized as that one, is beyond her abilities to properly utilize but she managed to hold just long enough.

"You're… not… going anywhere… Jugo…" She wheezes.

Jugo looks at her, bewildered. "You…"

**[Earth Style: Earth and Stone Bamboo Shoot]**

Four large spikes of earth jut out from four directions in the ground around the Uzumaki, all aiming for the same point in the centre of the square that they form, their pointed tips aiming for the three shinobi in the middle. They manage to dodge easily enough, even Sento who had to get back up to his feet.

They stand on top of the spears which have stopped their progress and look to the group, where they see a small boy in a kimono shirt has placed his hands on the ground.

Shoto smirks. "We're not done."

Looking down at the base of the Bamboo Shoots, a cluster of crystals form a small path between Yokumaru and Shoto's spears. They're positioned in rows of two, protruding from the ground diagonally forward, getting progressively larger until they reach their destination.

**[Crystal Style: Divine Pathway]**

The crystals enlarge and cover the entirety of Shoto's jutsu, in addition to forming their own protrusions. The Uzumaki dodge in time, getting even more distance between them and the barrier.

Sento looks between his partner and Yokumaru. ' _Just what is this jutsu?'_

Shoto and Yokumaru look quite exhausted themselves after using some fairly high level techniques. They're nowhere near as exhausted as Kotori, but they feel the effects.

"What're you doing?!" Awaji shouts. "Get back behind the barrier, quick!"

The shorter man man surrounds his entire body with his chains, creating an armour for himself. He grits his teeth through the pain and charges at them, past Sento and the woman. He roars a battle cry.

"Oi, wait!"

Jugo stands in the way of his charge and tries to block him from getting any further.

"Get out of my way!" The Uzumaki punches at Jugo's shield arm, which does not stop these particular chains.

**[Adamantine Draining Chains]**

The chains go through Jugo's arm and through his entire body, passing through like a ghost. Jugo's bodily modifications begin to dwindle as his chakra is sucked into the chains.

"Not even your body can stand up to this!" he mocks, but after a moment, his sneed turns into a frown.

The Uzumaki's body begins to change. It first starts from his arm where the chains originate from. The flesh turns a brown colour and parts of it expand like bubbles of pus. That moves onto his shoulder, then his back. His arm grows in size.

"What's… going on?! What's happening?!" He cries out. "Sento, help!"

He withdraws his chains from Jugo but his body does not stop changing. He grows a hunchback, his leg thickens, his throat bubbles. He can't breathe. He scratches at his throat but to no avail. He looks to Jugo, his eyes filled with terror.

"What… are you?" He gurgles out before his mutated body drops to the ground.

Jugo looks stunned. His hands begin to shake. "What did I do?"

"NATSUSHI!" Sento calls out. He and the woman make a run for their fallen comrade, which Jugo takes as a sign to move back and regroup with Awaji. They try to shake their friend awake, but he does not respond.

At this moment, Takeshi appears before them in a flash of light. "Sento, Jun, we're leaving." He immediately weaves a handsign with one hand, his other still numb from Hinata's attack.

"Not before we kill them!" Sento's voice booms.

"I wasn't asking." Takeshi slams his hand on the ground, creating an array of formulae.

**[Ninja Art: Reverse Summoning]**

In a puff of smoke, the three remaining enemies and the corpse of the fallen disappear.

It's then that Hinata joins up with them, having seen that this is where her foe fled to, but it's already too late.

"I didn't…" Jugo tries to contain his emotions. "I didn't mean to. That's not what I…"

Hinata interrupts him by placing a hand on his shoulder. Kotori also scooches closer to him, despite still being tired. He calms down a bit.

"It's alright, Jugo. We're here." Hinata smiles.

In the distance, the Amikiri dodges a Tailed Beast Bomb by wiggling its body out of the way.

"Elder, please continue watching over them. I need to go help Naruto. And you three," She turns to the kids, "We're going to talk about what you just did."

They look down, embarrassed.

She sighs and turns around. "But you did good." And Flickers to the giants' battle.

-x-

Kurama and Amikiri continue their little game of tag, with the serpentine creature keeping its distance in the air, while Naruto and Kurama try to bring it down.

It doesn't take long for Hinata to reach them, hopping onto Kurama's back and sinking in next to Naruto. As she comes in contact with the Nine Tails' chakra, her flak jacket turns orange, surrounded by flame-like chakra, just like Naruto's entire outfit does when he uses Kurama's power.

**[Tenseigan]**

Her Byakugan undergoes the change of pale white to cyan; purple chakra combines with Naruto's orange, as the black markings on Kurama's chakra gain a glow from Hinata's chakra.

"What happened?" Naruto asks.

"They got away. One of them fell in combat, but the rest managed to teleport out. I think they lost interest when you took care of the scroll."

"So then we just have this one left. It's really annoying to fight." Naruto grumbles." At least the others stayed on the ground.

Something catches Hinata's attention from just outside the range of her eyes. She smirks. "I'm assuming you've been awaiting their arrival."

"Yeah, now we can put it down for good."

Amikiri flies down with its pincers stretched out, ready to tackle Kurama, but its progress is interrupted. Three sickle-like wheels of water shoot through the air and nick at its body. It screeches and flies up, turning to the direction the water wheels came from, just in time to see a large stone-like object roll its way closer. It moves directly towards with purpose and uses one of the many destroyed structures as a ramp to fling itself up.

**[Leaping Bullet Shell Tower]**

The rolling object rushes right past Amikiri which dodges out the way, but mid-air Isobu uncurls himself and gathers water particles in front of its mouth.

**[Water Style: Great Water Mass]**

Amikiri dodges the large balls of water that come hurtling at it, and they impact the ground under it, reducing another barely standing building to rubble. Isobu himself lands with a resounding thud, shaking the very ground underneath as he plants his four feet. Amikiri snaps its claws at both of them.

Just then the entire area underneath Amikiri fills with gas. It envelops the entire land before shooting out as if blown by a gust of wind.

**[Wisdom Wolf Decay]**

A gooey mass of white emerges from cracks in the ground, coming together and joining up to given form to Saiken. The sticky solution that envelops her body begins to form into bubbles that fly up in the air to completely surround Amikiri.

**[Water Style: Caustic Bubble]**

Amikiri cuts through some of the bubbles surrounding it and does manage to eat through the chakra, but the corrosion still takes place, hurting the creatures that screeches in pain. It begins convulsing in pain, knocking into bubbles as it does and detonating them in the process.

"Isobu! Saiken!" Naruto calls out.

" _ **I will keep it surrounded by my bubbles."**_ Saiken begins forming more bubbles to release into the air. " _ **You bring it down."**_

" _ **Watch it, this thing can eat through chakra, but it seems limited in its power."**_ Kurama warns his siblings.

" _ **You're right."**_ Isobu stomps closer to them. " _ **When I last fought this thing, it didn't even bother dodging, it just made my water into a splash."**_

"Wait, you've fought this thing, Isobu? How'd you win?"

" _ **I mean… I didn't entirely. I just got tired of messing around with it, so I went back underwater. It didn't follow."**_

Kurama sighs. " _ **Yeah, well, cowardice isn't really an option right now."**_

" _ **Hey, that wasn't cowardice! If anything it was boredom!"**_ Isobu defends himself.

Hinata looks between the two of them. "Is that important right now?"

" _ **It's very important!"**_

"They kinda get like that sometimes." Naruto rubs the back of his head.

Saiken unleashes another wave of poisonous gas at Amikiri. It tries to maneuver around the bubbles and does succeed in going around some of them, but when the gas starts nearing, it can't afford to be careful with what it dodges. Amikiri lets out a screech of pain which resonates through the air, the bubbles around it begin to ripple and detonate remotely. A rain of acid falls to the ground.

" _ **Guess I'll just have to do all the work myself, eh?"**_ Saiken prepares another batch.

Naruto takes a long hard look at the field in front of him. He looks to the Amikiri, looks at the bubbles, then to the acid that just rained down.

"Hey, Saiken, can you get them as high as you can? Above that thing."

" _ **Sure can do!"**_ The bubbles go directly up before they start positioning themselves to surround Amikiri.

"Isobu, follow my lead!"

" _ **Let's see what you got."**_ Isobu stomps on the ground.

"Hinata," He turns to his girlfriend, "Can these things be made into anything other than spears?" He points to the chakra weapons that hover around Kurama's arms.

"I've never tried, but it might be possible. What exactly were you thinking?"

"Something with a bit more airtime than a spear."

"Let's see what we can do." Hinata holds Naruto's hand and the two begin focusing their chakra on the spears.

They break down into a more flame-like abstract shape, twisting and bending as they project the image they have in their mind. After a moment, in place of the spears are two chakram, circular thrown weapon, that whirl around his arms, additional energy coming from where there would normally be a bladed part on the actual thing.

"Alright!" Naruto throws the chakram in the air, aiming for the bubbles that hover over Amikiri.

Without even touching the bubbles, the purple weapons detonate them and continue flying to detonate even more along its path. The acid rain begins to drip onto the Amikiri and this time it has nowhere to safely run to. Isobu joins in by firing torrents of water to increase how much acid falls down.

Amikiri flies lower to the ground and tries to get out of the field of acid rain. Its senses dulled due to pain, it's not able to dodge the next attacks.

Naruto throws another chakra weapon at it, which explodes violently in its face. Isobu charges in and grabs hold of one pincer with its tails, while Saiken grabs the other pincer. It struggles and tries to break free but is held in place. It grabs Isobu by the shell after getting an inch of freedom and clamps down. Isobu's shell cracks but he keeps holding on.

Amikiri brings its tail to attempt to push Saiken off, but the slimy and squishy body proves difficult to get a real hold on. Seeing this effort fruitless, it focuses its strength on the pincer that holds onto Isobu, trying to break the shell.

Before it can try to succeed, Kurama hops over it where it lies held in place. Naruto gathers two more of the Tenseigan's spears and fires them at its body, ensuring its chakra is disrupted. It releases its grasp on Isobu and Saiken. Kurama then gathers dark chakra in front of his snout, join this time with lighter purple chakra from the Tenseigan.

**[Tailed Beast Bomb]**

It impacts heavily at point blank range, allowing no chance to dodge or lessen the impact in any way. Isobu and Saiken release the Amikiri as the Bomb sends it flying far away before detonating in the distance, truly ensuring that the section of the Hidden Whirlpool is all but irreparable.

When the dust settles, the Rashomon gate appears from the ground and swallows the Amikiri back to the netherworld.

Naruto breathes a sigh of relief. "That goodness that worked."

Isobu tries to look at his back where the crack is. " _ **I'm just glad it didn't break my shell again."**_

"Again?" Naruto raises a brow.

" _ **Yeah, it got me pretty good when I fought it. Took me a lot of time to recover from it."**_

" _ **So you DID run away!"**_ Kurama confronts him.

" _ **I told you I didn't!"**_ Isobu shouts back.

"Thankfully it's gone for now." Hinata deactivates her Byakugan, returning her eyes to their normal paleness. "Um… mister Isobu, how different was this creature from when you fought?"

" _ **Hm?"**_ He turns his attention away from Kurama's mocking. " _ **Pretty different, I suppose. It looked kind of out of it, like it wasn't focused on the fight at all. And it looked way weaker."**_

"So they continue to be chained by Tamamo's seals."

"And whoever those guys were, they might be on their way to unsealing it, especially if they already know what Mito found. We gotta regroup and report everything."

Hinata nods. "You're right."

" _ **We'll keep on being on the lookout, you all stay safe."**_ Saiken's form melts away into the ground.

Isobu just begins walking away. " _ **If something pops up, you know where to find us, Naruto."**_

"Yeah. Thanks for your help!"

Naruto and Hinata return to the rest and they all take a few minutes to recuperate from the battles that just unfolded. While resting, Hinata does take the time to have a serious conversation with the kids.

"You went in and confronted shinobi much more powerful than you. Do you even realize how much danger you were in?" She scolds them. "You were completely drained after doing just one jutsu. You never go into battle by exhausting yourself."

"Sorry, mom."  
"Sorry, sensei."  
"Sorry, shisho."

They all look down.

"Please don't be too hard on them." Jugo comes up to her. "It's because I put myself in danger that they stepped in. They saved me."

"And I was too absorbed in keeping the barrier that I did not see them step outside of it." Awaji sighs.

"Even still…"

"No, you're right." Naruto steps by her side. "You three, you did something good but the way you went about it could've made it so much worse. Today you got lucky you didn't die. So from now on you're training twice as hard, understood? No matter what, I'm not going to be the one to tell your parents something bad happened to you because we weren't taking care of you properly."

The kids nod.

After catching their breath, they decide it time to get back to the ship. It'd be better to have more people around, and to leave the village behind. On the way out, Naruto and Awaji take one last look at the Hidden Whirlpool Village which they somehow left more destroyed than it was before.

Along the way back to the ship, they actually run into Chojuro, Saizo, and Kiri, who were on their way to the village after seeing a Tailed Beast go through not too far from them in that direction. So they figured something had happened and ran to help. Naruto and his group explain everything that happened on the way back to the ship.

After all that happened, the rest of the trip seems boring in comparison. They do run into some more pirate vessels which they take down with relative ease.

The kids continue their training, now a bit more intense than before. They've gotten rather good at dodging so it's time to move onto the next stage. Performing jutsu while staying on the mast. That particular skill requires them to split their focus- to keep their chakra to their feet but also weave their chakra through their body, without disturbing what they'd gathered on their feet.

Under Naruto and Hinata's tutelage, they manage to pick up on the skill by the time they return to the Hidden Mist. Even without being prompted to, they turn it into a challenge and keep each other on their toes, they even continue past the time that was designated for their training to keep at it.

With that, their first mission for the Hidden Mist Village comes to an end.

* * *

**Name meanings**

Sento Uzumaki (うずまき セント, _Uzumaki Sento_ ) = named after the Sentoku type submarines.

Jun Uzumaki (うずまき ジュン, _Uzumaki Jun_ ) = named after the Junsen type submarines.

Natsushi Uzumaki † (うずまき ナツシ, _Uzumaki Natsushi_ ) = named after the Natsushio-class submarines.

Amikiri (網切 or 網剪) = A Japanese yokai. Its name can either be translated as "net cutter" or "cutting shrimp".

* * *

**Trivia**

This one is a bit more wordy, but I can finally reveal it now at the end. Kaidomaru and his three most trusted are based on the Shitennō (四天王, _Four Heavily Kings_ )

 _ **Sakata no Kintoki/Kaidomaru**_ _of House Suzaku (Vermillion Bird)_ , the inspiration for _Sakata Kaidomaru/Uzumaki Kaidomaru_. Not related to the guardian, but Sakata no Kintoki is famed for wrestling a giant koi fish, which is why that was Kaidomaru's summoning animal.

 _ **Urabe no Suetake**_ _of House Seiryū (Blue Dragon)_ , the inspiration for _Tokage Takeshi_. Because his guardian deity is a Dragon, Takeshi's took a more reptilian inspiration, having a Chameleon summons, and his designated Great Beast is semi-serpentine in nature.

 _ **Usui Sadamitsu**_ _of House Genbu (Black Turtle)_ , the inspiration for _Osui Mizushi_. The Turtle guardian is why Mizushi's summons are turtles, and why his designated Great Beast is a Kappa, a humanoid turtle.

 _ **Watanabe no Tsuna**_ _of House Byakko (White Tiger)_ , the inspiration for _Tsumetogi Kuga_. The Tiger is why she was made to be the feline counterpart to the Inuzuka clan, and why her designated Great Beast is part-feline (with parts of monkey and snake, but it's close enough)


	39. Chapter 39

**HIDDEN MIST RECOVERY VI**

Mei closes the scroll she was given and sighs, running her hand through her hair. Before her stand Naruto, Hinata, Chojuro, and Kiri who'd just returned from their mission, Awaji who'd traveled with them. as well as Jugo who they'd picked up along the way, and Saizo who'd returned with them from his own mission.

On their journey back, they'd written out a detailed report on the events that transpired to be given to the Mizukage upon arrival. She'd just finished reading and is honestly still processing everything.

"So, the theory of sealing and unsealing the Great Beasts is known to us, simply not how it was executed?" She places both arms on the table in front of her, keeping her composure.

"Yes, my Lady." Awaji bows. "However, as soon as we are able, the Uzumaki clan will begin deciphering everything in the scroll Lady Mito had left behind. If this is within our power then we will attain it, and follow in our ancestor's footsteps."

Mei smiles. "We put our faith in you, Elder. We leave this in your capable hands. I will alert my fellow Kage of everything you'd told me, and we shall discuss it further at the next Kage Summit."

Naruto looks agitated. "Yeah, we found out about the Beasts, but now we have to wonder why Uzumaki are apparently working against us. Why would they want to unleash those things..."

Awaji closes his eyes and bows his head. "I fear many an Uzumaki have been mistreated over the years. Our abilities, our special chakra… They are seen as convenient tools, and the people wielding them were seen as no better. I can understand how that would lead one on such a path, as I'm sure you've witnessed for yourself over the years." Awaji opens his eyes, keeping them fixated on the ground. ' _But now I understand why I suddenly lost track of many brethren…'_

Mei sighs. "Our Hidden Mist has been no better, in truth. Wielders of kekkei genkai such as myself were feared and ostracized, which led to many skirmishes. The Kaguya clan comes to mind as one such case; displeased with their treatment and being very vocal about it. Simply put, they were wronged and now wish to get back at those who wronged them."

"But you still became the village's Kage, right?" Naruto points out. "The village changed its ways."

"I may have become Mizukage but don't think it was an easy task. Don't think I didn't have to fight tooth and nail or that I didn't shed blood. The village may have mellowed since but many's views haven't changed; many still believe I shouldn't be here, although the Fourth War helped change such perspectives. However, others may not share the Five Great Nations' newfound viewpoint."

Naruto clenches his fist. "Even though we went through so much to bring peace... Our villages united and fought together; we showed we can work together!" Naruto's gestures become more animated/

Hinata places a hand on his arm. "And progress has been made, but I fear we still have a long way to go still."

"You're correct." The Mizukage nods. "We've only just begun building this… new world. We'll get there, don't worry."

Chojuro nods to Naruto. "I can assure you the Hidden Mist will fight to keep the peace."

"That's right!" Kiri pumps his fist."We won't let the past repeat itself."

Mei smiles at their eagerness before turning her attention to Jugo. "Now then. What do we do with you…" She puts up her hand just as Naruto tries to begin talking. "I'm well aware of your thoughts on the subject and while I believe they're admirable, he has crimes to answer for. Attempted assassination on a Kage is no laughing matter. And he IS an escaped convict, as well."

"I understand that completely." Jugo nods firmly. "If things were entirely up to me, I'd take whatever punishment I must, but I fear my lack of control makes that… difficult."

Naruto steps. "See, he can't control his powers. Even if you lock him up again, if nothing's done about that, then it won't help!"

"We have measures in place for that. Seals that can prevent him from weaving chakra. His previous escape was because we were in the middle of getting back to our feet after the War, this time proper measures will be taken."

"Or!" Naruto begins his offer. "If you want him to actually pay for his crimes, then give him the option to. Let him actually contribute positively in some way instead of being locked away where he can't do anything to atone."

Mei sighs. "Naruto, you've already made this offer before, haven't you? With Guren of the Crystal Style and Gozu the Mudwall. Your word carries a lot of weight, but there's only so many people even you can vouch for."

"Look, his entire life he's tried to control but his powers but couldn't. Now he has the chance to. It's like you said, with people being afraid of kekkei genkai users. Shouldn't he be allowed to at least have his wits about him?"

"His decision to follow Sasuke Uchiha was his own. His decision to go against the shinobi law was his own."

Jugo places a hand on Naruto's shoulder, giving him a light smile before turning to the Mizukage. "I'm well aware how my actions look and I don't plan on playing the victim. While it's true I'm not always in control, I did indeed choose to follow someone no matter their intentions, if for nothing else that I believed that was the only way for me to be in control. However..." He glances over to Naruto, "With your grace, I'd like to be a force for good and help you build the new world you speak of."

She takes a long, hard look at him. "Chojuro, Saizo."

"Ma'am." They both stand at attention.

"You fought against him. Your thoughts?"

Chojuro looks between the people in the room, surprised to be put in the spotlight. "While it's true he displayed a lack of control, it's also true that Naruto has a way of giving him control back. I was… uncertain at first, but Jugo of the Scales has shown to not be as described and truly remorseful."

Attention is then placed on Saizo. Naruto nervously gulps. Saizo Kyorin has shown to be more on the rough side and doesn't quite have a sentimentality. Being raised in the time of the Bloody Mist, he might not be as lenient in his opinion as Chojuro.

Saizo sighs _(A/N: Sighzo)_. "I'm in agreement with Chojuro. If utilized properly, I believe he can be an asset. And Naruto Uzumaki may be able to utilize him properly."

"Wait, really?" Naruto does little to hide his surprise.

The Ninja Swordsman shrugs. "I've seen no evidence he himself is malicious in any way."

"Very well." Mei nods. "I'll relay this to the other Kage, as well. For now, do what you can to help him with his… condition and after that, we'll see. Dismissed."

Naruto's grins widely. "Alright! You won't regret it."

Jugo bows deeply. "Thank you for your generosity."

At the door, Naruto comes to a halt and turns around. "Ah, one more thing. Is there…" Naruto begins to sound hopeful but realizes it may be too much to ask, "Is there any chance there're any Uzumaki here in the Mist?"

"I did hear Lord Kazekage got a small group, but we've had no such luck, I'm afraid."

Awaji nods in confirmation. "I've also never heard of any Uzumaki making their way to the Hidden Mist."

"To begin with, we've never truly been open to outsiders. I suppose any remnants of the Uzumaki clan thought they'd have better luck elsewhere."

"Yeah. Figure it's worth a shot anyway, right?" He gives a faint smile before turning away and closing the door behind him.

With that, the group leaves the Mizukage's building to meet the Hidden Mist Village and rest after the grueling mission and tiring travel.

Chojuro and Kiri turn to Naruto and his team. "I hope we can work together again."

"Yeah." Naruto smiles and shakes hands with both of them.

Hinata bows. "It was an honour working with you."

Saizo very unceremoniously leaves, only bothering a wave as he walks away. "Might see you around, might not." And he Flickers away.

Chojuro scratches his cheek in embarrassment. "Uh, I apologize for him. He's not one for things like this."

Naruto laughs. "It's alright. Take care, alright?"

Chojuro and Kiri bid their farewells, leaving the group to themselves. They head on outside the premises of the structure, which goes a bit beyond the building itself, having some small gardens out front. A wall, standing just above Jugo in height separates it from the streets.

As they approach the gate, they can hear some signs of struggle. Grunting, kicking, all around a lot of movement. When they pass, they see Kotori, Shoto, and Yokumaru about where they'd left them, except rather than waiting by the gate as they were meant to, they've chosen to instead walk on the wall and have some extra training.

Yokumaru and Kotori are currently in the middle of a spar on the side of the wall, trying to push each other off and neither really getting the upper hand. With the training on the boat, they're now able to stay stuck on vertical surfaces while maintaining focus on other things. They even Flicker about while fighting, but there's some close calls where they foot nearly slips off before they can plant it firmly back.

Shoto, meanwhile, is sitting seiza style on the wall, slightly away from the spar, his body staying in a horizontal position although he's visibly straining himself in his fight against gravity.

It's impressive how quickly they took to the training after only 3 weeks, give or take a few days.

"Having fun?" Naruto approaches Shoto.

The Teshin boy looks back. "They seem to be. Couldn't last as long against me, though." He hops off and lands on his feet.

"So you got stuck a spectator, huh?" Naruto laughs.

Kotori and Yokumaru notice and stop, hopping off and joining up with them. "All done?"

"Yep, now we just have one thing left." He looks back to Jugo. "You ready to leave?"

The man nods. "I believe so."

"Wait, leave where?" Kotori looks between them.

"You remember Mount Myoboku, right? He's gonna go there for a bit to train, like we did." Naruto goes through the motions, and slams his hand on the ground. In a puff of smoke, Fukasaku appears on his shoulder.

"All done, huh, boy?" Fukasaku asks.

"Yeah." Naruto nods in response.

Kotori looks dejected. "Can't you train here with us, instead?"

Jugo smiles and kneels down. "Sorry, but I can't here." He pats her on the head. "I promise I'll come back, alright? I still owe you guys for saving me out there." He pats the boys on the shoulders and stands up. "I'm ready."

"We'll see each other soon, yeah?" Naruto bumps fist with him.

Hinata bows her head. "All the best with your training."

"Alright." Fukasaku hops over from Naruto's shoulder to Jugo's. "I'll bring him back good as new." He brings his hands together and the two of them disappear as abruptly as Fukasaku had appeared.

"Don't suppose you got somewhere to go, too, Gramps?" Naruto looks back to Awaji.

The old man laughs. "Not right now, no. I'm not due to return for another couple days. Until then, I shall make the best of my stay here. For now, however, I believe rest is important. That wobbly ship has not been good for my legs." Awaji bows and takes his leave, as well.

"Now then." Naruto gathers his family. "Let's get something to eat, yeah?"

* * *

Since there's some time to spare before his departure, Awaji invites Naruto and Hinata out for a drink on his final night, both as a sort of celebration and simply to catch up. They find a fine establishment to sit in.

Awaji takes a sip from his sake cup. "Another five months, I'd say."

"Hm?" Naruto cocks his head. "Whaddya mean?"

"Another five months until the Uzumaki clan can fully move into the Hidden Leaf Village. It's been an arduous task but with the aid of Lady Tsunade, we are getting closer to our goal."

Naruto gives a light smile, although it's not one of happiness. "And you're going through the entire process while I don't really do much of anything for the clan…"

"Nonsense." Awaji cuts him off. "You're preserving the peace and you're spreading the good name of the Uzumaki clan! That's far more important than what I can do for the clan. In the end, a clan leader needn't do everything themselves. You lead by example, you lead by marching onward and protecting and supporting those around; you can leave the administrative minutia to me to worry about." He smiles.

"If I may ask, Elder, why is there another five months delay?" Hinata sips some more sake in Naruto's cup.

"Mostly, it's how long it will take to build a compound for our clan. From what I understand, an unused area of the village has been cleared for us so a district specifically for the Uzumaki clan can be erected. There's also the details of people needing more time to prepare to uproot their lives. They've their jobs and businesses they have, so we wish to make certain they can provide for themselves and their families once they move to the Leaf."

"Sounds like it's not exactly easy to do." Naruto takes a sip of his sake.

"No, but it's worth it." Awaji smiles. "But enough about that. That will be solved as it comes. How has your life been as teachers and parents?"

Naruto laughs. "A lot busier than I thought."

"And yet he's always eager and willing." Hinata giggles. "In truth it's quite frightening, still. We had good examples to follow but we may not have the full experience to follow it well."

"Every time I try to explain something, I try to remember how Kakashi-sensei taught us or Jiraiya did. Keep thinking how much stronger they'd be with someone else as their teacher." Naruto chuckles.

"Oh, I'm sure that's not the case. The kids are motivated by your passion and driven by your example. Your abilities and your deed shine just as brightly as Kakashi Hatake or Jiraiya, and the children see you for who you are, and see what a positive influence you are not just on them but on the whole world. Your fears will subside, I assure you." Awaji smiles to the couple.

"Thanks, gramps."

"Of course. What's family for?"

They remain for a while longer, making small talk before parting ways. The next day, they all send Awaji off as he leaves back or the Land of Fire.

* * *

Over the course of the next two months, the kids' training resumes as normal. As per the usual agreement, Naruto and Hinata are given missions that allow at least one of them to be close by so the kids are never left alone for too long, while the other is assigned more serious missions. Thankfully, there are days in-between where both can take a rest.

With the help of Ganryu, Hinata found a suitable place to hold the kids' training, a more remote park on the outskirts of the town. It's a wide plain with a large lake in the middle, connected to the wider sea by a river that starts off narrow but eventually becomes wider as it leaves the village; all of this surrounded by lush trees. It's isolated, with not a lot of traffic so they shouldn't get interrupted. There, Hinata is the first to give them the final part of their current training- walking on water.

Kotori puffs out her chest. "We already got the trees down! How difficult could water be?"

Yokumaru looks nervously at the lake. "I don't know, I feel like it'd be different on liquid."

"Well, why don't you all try." Hinata motions to the water. "Simply do what you've been doing so far and attempt it."

Confident in her abilities, Kotori walks over, focuses chakra at her feet and strides forward. She doesn't even get one step before she plops into the water face-first.

"Kotori!" Yokumaru runs over to her in a panic. He kneels by the edge of the lake and reaches out to grab hold of her.

As her face emerges from the water, she begins flailing around helplessly. "Help!"

"Kotori…" Hinata remains oddly calm.

"I'm drowning!" Kotori cries out again.

Even Shoto runs over with Yokumaru, the two boys quickly grabbing each of her arms to pull her to safety.

"Kotori!" This time Hinata is more firm.

The struggling stops. Holding onto both Yokumaru and Shoto, Kotori stands up. The water barely reaches her knee.

"Oh…"

The boys both let go, sighing. Whether it's from relief or exasperation, it's difficult to say.

"Seriously, you…" Shoto facepalms.

"Would you boys like to attempt?" Hinata walks over, pulling a towel from a storage scroll.

Kotori steps out of the water and takes it, drying herself off.

"I think we get the idea." Yokumaru nervously chuckles.

Hinata takes some time to get more items from her storage scroll. Namely a large cloth to lay on the ground for them to sit on, some snacks and drinks, and a fresh and neatly folded set of clothes for each other.

Kotori, still dripping wet, looks at the last item, then to Hinata, then back to the clothes, and finally to Hinata again. "... You knew this would happen." She says in an accusing tone.

Hinata only smiles warmly, inwardly having fun with this.

Shoto immediately takes off his shirt and pants, and goes up to the water. She takes a pause, calming his breathing. He activates his Earth Spear on his legs to regain the sense of having a jutsu on his soles, being careful throughout the whole process. Finally, he steps into the water and falls.

"It's nothing like the trees!" He protests, splashing the water.

"Why don't you all put on something a bit lighter that won't matter if it gets wet, and we can continue."

As instructed, they all take off their usual clothes and put on the fresh sets Hinata had prepared in advance. Kotori's wet clothes are set to the side to dry, as much as they can given the humid climate in this part of the world. With the kids now dressed in more water-friendly clothing, she walks over to the edge and sits down on her side. The kids follow her. When they come to the edge, she simply places a hand on the very surface of the water, not letting her hand sink but be on the very surface; a very light push away from being submerged.

"Place your hands like this." They follow as instructed. "Savour this sensation, the feeling of your hand staying just staying above water. Keep in your minds how your hand feels, how the water envelops your palm." She takes her hand off. "Much of chakra control is about visualization. Keep this visual as you try to stand on water. Don't focus on the water, or its movement, or anything besides this feeling."

She stands up and takes a step back, leaving the kids to figure it out for now. They stay for a while longer with their arms pressed against the surface of the water.

After several minutes of focused concentration, Kotori and Shoto stand up at the same time. They share an intense look, both determined to get the hang of this first. They gently place a bare foot down, letting it hang on the surface as they gather chakra, and when they lift their back foot to fully step on the water, they both fall with a splash, their feet slipping on the mud underneath causing them to fall down on their butts. Their fresh clothes are already soaked and they haven't even started.

To the side, Yokumaru has taken a different approach. He's sat on the grass and has both feet out planted on the water. When he feels he has a grasp of it, he props himself up but when his feet sink, he just bumps back on the ground with only his feet getting wet.

Kotori and Shoto share an embarrassed look and just copy what Yokumaru's doing.

Hinata giggles from her spot on the blanket.

This particular training is much more difficult than the tree walking. The very nature of the water makes it difficult to set foot on; at least trees are something physical you can safely touch without sinking. There's also the fact that every single minor movement of the water disrupts their chakra control. They very soon figure out that being next to each other spells disaster, as one's mistake sends ripples through that interrupt the other two. It's a mess.

Being apart does help but it also means they have to more or less shout at each other to have a conversation and give each other tips; either that or run over to talk and then go back to their designated spot. They do eventually get used to it.

Their water walking training is done in intervals, with some more standard training done in-between to keep them on their toes and make sure they don't lose their edge. Taijutsu sparring, shuriken and kunai training, ninjutsu… and most of that done while standing horizontally on a tree, too!

-x-

At one point during their, a presence interrupts their training. Well, not so much 'interrupt' as the figure is too far from them to truly prevent them from training, but they're definitely someone who garners their attention. From the woods not too far from their chosen spot, a young boy walks out.

He's glad in a loose light purple shirt, that becomes slitted past the waist and reaches past his knees; its wide sleeve asymmetrical as the back of them hands lower than his hands. A harness over his chest holds in place the two swords on his back. And this boy, no older than they, simply strides over to the water and walks on it with no issues.

They stop their training for a moment to simply stare in awe at him.

Not long after, another man wanders into the field but him, they recognize. Saizo Kyorin, fully dressed in battle attire, walks up the young boy who simply nods at the older man's arrival.

Without any ceremony, the boy lunges at Saizo, drawing his blades and unleashing a vicious series of attacks. Saizo does draw his Shibuki but the blade is not covered in explosive tags and he only uses it as a shield.

The boy moves precisely and elegantly, his swords moving swifter than the eye can see, only enhanced by his usage of the basic utility jutsu like Body Flicker. He moves them with a simple flick of the wrist, making it seem a lot easier than it actually is.

When getting some distance from Saizo, he holds the holds in a unique way- rather than facing up and forward as most swordsmen, he holds them upside-down with the hilt facing up and the blade facing down; a stance that makes him resemble a praying mantis.

Even Naruto can't help but look on at the display that goes on for a good while. At one point, Saizo looks over in their direction and motions the boy to stop. They walk over.

"Naruto." Saizo greets the Leaf ninja. "Sorry, I didn't mean to cause a show. Didn't interrupt your training, did I?"

"Not at all. Actually I think seeing that display may have helped more than anything." Naruto extends a hand for a handshake, which Saizo returns. "So who's this?"

Saizo looks down to the boy who silently stands by his side on the water. "This is my own

protégé, Toro Goshiki. Toro, I told you about Naruto Uzumaki."

Toro bows.

"Wow!" Kotori stands on the edge of the grass, looking at Toro's feet and the chakra gathered around them. "You can already walk on water, and even fight?" She looks up with a grin. "I'm Kotori Uzumaki, nice to meet you!"

"Yokumaru Kigatsu." The boy introduces himself.

"Shoto Teshin." He gives the traditional greeting of bowing with his fist against his palm.

Toro nods lightly as each new name is given to him. "It's natural I can fight on water, I learned long ago. You can't?" He cocks his head.

"Ah, weeeell…" Kotori scratches his chin in embarrassment. "Not exactly. Well, not yet, anyway. I'm thiiiis close, you know?"

Toro turns around and begins walking to the forest. "Then maybe your names aren't worth remembering, after all."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Shoto walks to the side, ready to confront Toro even though he can actually reach the child swordsman.

"It means what you heard." Toro Flickers away, leaving Kotori fuming and Shoto angry.

Naruto raises a brow.

"Ahh, he... gets like that." Saizo offers an explanation. "You're more than free to prove him wrong, though. When you become rivals, make sure no one could ever forget your name." With that bit of… wisdom (?), Saizo Flickers after his student so that Naruto can continue training with his own.

In the woods, Saizo quickly catches up to Toro, racing through the trees.

"Were those really the ones, sensei?" Toro asks without even acknowledging his teacher's arrival, or so much as even glancing at him. "They're just kids."

"Don't underestimate anyone, Toro, you know better than that. Be careful of the day they become your enemies." Saizo's voice grows darker and colder. This is a warning to his student.

"Yes, sensei."

-x-

With newfound determination igniting them, it still takes the better part of the first month of training but eventually…

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Kotori shouts, bringing the attention to her. She's standing on water!

Everyone looks at her in awe, with Naruto going up to her with a grin. "Good job!"

She's wobbly but firmly standing on the surface. "See? Light as a feather!" She gives a thumbs up, a grin on her face as wide as can be.

She steps out of the water and Naruto pats her on the head.

Not long after that, empowered and motivated, Shoto manages to stand on the surface, followed soon by Yokumaru.

-x-

To the side, Kotori also had her own little project going that she focused more on once water walking training lessened. In order to better her own jutsu, she took to studying about birds native to the Land of Water and its many islands. She took a liking to the macaw with their pretty feathers and especially their ability to talk. Ganryu helped her a bit by finding a place where macaws are raised not far from the Hidden Mist, and Hinata received permission to leave on a short trip so Kotori can interact closer with the birds.

Acting as a sort of reservation and sanctuary of many birds, the place they're taken to is a treasure trove of information for local birdlife. With a special document granted to them by the Mizukage, they're allowed to get a closer look and be in contact with the birds.

Kotori stares at one macaw with glistening eyes. "Hello, pretty."

 _Squawk._ "I'm the prettiest. You're the ugliest." The parrot speaks.

"Ow, that's a bit rude…"

 _Squawk._ "It's the truth."

Kotori grumbles. "This isn't how I pictured this conversation going…"

 _Squawk._ "Tough luck."

A man from the reservation walks over in a hurry. "I apologize, this one's a rescue. He was… not raised in a well-mannered environment."

"I see no problem with it." Shoto smirks. "Can I keep it? I think we'd get along."

Kotori puffs out her cheeks and glares at him.

"Let me show you some of the others."

The group is led further inside, where Kotori spends some time taking in information about the various birds she sees. In the end, she does have to pick and choose which ones to focus on for now. She decides to learn the most about the macaw and another bird that catches her eye.

On the surface, it's kind of odd-looking, with a mostly orange to black colouration on the back and yellow on the front. A blue face contrasts its red eye, and the feathers on its head are long and look like permanent bed hair. But the most… interesting thing about the Hoatzin? It smells.

Yokumaru and Shoto hold their noses as they approach Kotori playing around with one particular hoatzin.

Yokumaru whines. "Why would you pick this one? There's a lot of other birds here that don't smell."

The bird caws at him, as if it understood the insult.

"You know," Shoto coughs, "I'm not even in the mood of joking that it smells as bad as you look, it's that bad…"

"Well, you two can keep being negative about it, while I enjoy its company!" She huffs. "Besides, Elder Awaji is right. My jutsu takes whatever a bird can do and just… makes it stronger. So when I learn how to better control my birds, this cute lil' guy will be really deadly, yes you are!" She coos at the smelly bird.

"Just don't summon it around us, alright?" The two of them take a step back to go look at some of the more colourful birds around.

When they leave, Hinata turns to Ganryu who'd accompanied them all this way to assist them. "I can't repay you all the help you've provided us."

The man raises his hand in front. "Oh, no, there's no need at all. I'm simply accommodating the guests I'm in charge of, that's all. It's what I signed up for."

"I find it unlikely that something like this fits within your job description. You've immensely aided Kotori in training her jutsu; Naruto and I will make certain to repay you in kind."

A bead of sweat drops from his forehead. "Really, there's no need. Consider this me repaying Naruto for the trouble I put him through when we first met."

"Aha, so it truly wasn't about doing your job?" Hinata giggles.

"At any rate!" Ganryu begins speedwalking. "We best return to the village before it gets dark."

Along the way, Kotori gleefully conjures the feathers of macaws and hoatzin.

From the Hidden Cloud, Kotori learned to summon condors and sparrows. From the Hidden Stone, she learned to summon ostriches. From the Hidden Sand- hawks and falcons. And now from the Hidden Mist, she adds macaws and hoatzin to her arsenal of avians. The booklet she got from the Raikage doesn't hold all the answers; it has little information on the macaw and absolutely nothing on the hoatzin, so she'll have to get the hang of it herself eventually. For now, however, she's happy to have made progress.

Hinata purchases some reading material for her that goes into greater detail about these birds' lifestyle, they plumage, everything. After all, the more she knows about the bird, the better her summons are. She just needs a bit more time before she can summon them as adults, which is where her jutsu really shines.

-x-

Barring that, the two and a half months pass by without anything major happening. Naruto and Hinata continue to go on missions, most of which involve going to sea. Whether it's hunting down pirates, or transporting goods, or guarding VIPs, the usual shinobi work. They do have traffic in many directions- some travelling between islands within the Land of Water, but some going to the lands that surround it- Lightning, Frost, Hot Waters, and Fire. Some missions even involve taking on escorts from those lands for the return trip. All in all, it's business as usual.

-x-

When the two and a half months pass, Naruto's group is sent off by a fairly large party of people. Mei Terumi herself is present, as are Chojuro, Kiri, Gonbee, and Ganryu.

Hinata bows to them. "Thank you for taking care of us these past months."

Mei chuckles. "Oh dear, there's no need to stand on such formalities. If anything, you've been the ones taking care of us, but sadly now it's time for you to go and take care of each other."

"Are you looking forward to getting back home?" Kiri asks.

"Ah, well…" Naruto shares a look with Hinata. "We're not actually going home just yet. We got word from granny Tsunade that the Uzumaki clan are still getting their lives together so they won't officially move to the Hidden Leaf for a few months, so there's not much of a rush."

"So we've decided to ask for an extended leave. From now on, we'll focus on the kids' training full-time until the time comes that we must return." Hinata adds.

"So long as you've thought this through." Gonbee steps forward and offers a handshake which is readily returned. "I've no doubt you'll face a myriad of problems along the way but you've proven you can overcome them."

A shadow crosses over Mei as she stiffens. ' _Marriage… problems?'_

"Just be careful you don't miss out on your clan's revival." Gonbee laughs. "Wouldn't look good to be late to the scene."

Mei grips her sleeve. ' _Late to the scene?'_ She walks over to Gonbee and places a hand on his shoulder with more strength than he expected. She leans in and whispers in his ear. "Shut up or I'll kill you."

Gonbee freezes.

Mei then turns to them with a smile as if nothing had happened. "I do hope we can meet again soon. When we hold the Kage Summit in the Hidden Leaf, we'll come and say hi."

"We'll be waiting." Naruto grins.

They all wave as they go about on the road. Their final leg of their year long mission has come to and end and they're free to return home, when the time is right for it, that is.

As of now, they just have to focus on taking care of each other.

* * *

**Name meanings:**

Toro Goshiki (ごしき トウロウ, _Goshiki Tōrō_ )= ' _Tourou_ ' means ' _praying mantis_ '. ' _Goshiki_ ' means ' _melon_ '; like all members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, his surname is derived from a type of produce.

**Trivia**

In the original concept from 8 years ago, Toro was actually Shoto's name as he was meant to be described as using the Praying Mantis style of martial arts, but when I actually started writing this fanfic, I changed his inspiration and thus name to take from the Japanese karate. I forget if I had a family name figured out for Old!Shoto.


	40. Heroes Come Back / End of Part 1

**HEROES COME BACK / END OF PART 1**

* * *

_**Three months later** _

**Hidden Leaf Village**

* * *

The Hidden Leaf's gates stand as tall and proud as they always have, looking the same as they always have and yet they feel so different. A part of Naruto and Hinata had forgotten how impressive a sight they are.

Now, after over a year of travelling, they're home with their new extended family. Kotori, Yokumaru, and Shoto look up at the large entrance in awe, with a hint of nervousness. Today is the day they settle in their new home. Today is the day their adventure ends, although a new one will begin. What will it lead to? How will they fare? One way to find out.

They step through, passing by merchants and travellers going in and out of the village, encountering shinobi not just from Leaf going about on missions or returning from them.

"Well, well," A familiar voice draws their attention to the guard station to the side. As usual, it's Izumo and Kotetsu.

Kotetsu steps forward with a smile. "Feels like it's been forever."

Hinata bows to them both. "We've returned from our mission."

Izumo waves. "Welcome back, you two."

"Yeah, it's good to be back!" Naruto takes a deep breath and looks around. "This place hasn't changed much, huh?"

Kotetsu shrugs. "In some ways, no, it's the same place as always, just with more foreign guests."

"That's good to hear." Hinata smiles.

"You going straight to report to Lady Tsunade?" Izumo asks.

"Not yet. Gotta get the whole group together first."

"It's been a long time not just for us." Hinata looks back to the kids. "We'll go to Lady Tsunade soon."

"Alright." Kotetsu nods. "We'll be seeing more of each from now on. Stay safe." He waves and moves back to his station, as they gang steps fully inside, now soaking in the atmosphere.

"What do we do now, shisho?" Shoto looks around the unfamiliar village.

"You said to get the whole group?" Yokumaru looks up to him.

"Yeah, we'll go find your parents first." Naruto grins.

"Do you… know where they are?" Yokumaru grips his shirt. For the first time in a year, he'd see his mom, the most he'd been away from her. It's beyond nerve wracking. ' _Mom…'_

"Well, not yet. Gimme a second." Naruto brings his hands in front in a meditative state. After a moment, his eyes shine golden and he takes a moment to focus. As soon as his eyes changed, they revert back to their normal blue. "Alright, let's go!" He Flickers away, and they all follow after him.

* * *

**Hidden Leaf Village's Shorin-ryu dojo**

* * *

The distinct sounds of sparring can be heard from within the Hidden Leaf's newest dojo, of the Teshin clan's Shorin style of fighting. The pained and intense grunts of combat, of the wooden floor being struck with great strength, the almost rhythmic cries of students following their kata.

Shoto stands in front of the door, intensely staring at the sign as if making sure this is actually where he's supposed to be. Naruto places a reassuring hand on his student's shoulder who takes in a deep breath, and opens the door.

Inside, as the sounds would suggest, are a group of 10 trainees performing kata to the side. They… seem focused enough, although it's clear their attention is also being taken by what's happening to the side.

The two dojo masters, Itosuke Teshin and Asami Teshin are engaged in a fairly heated spar. The husband's hair is tied in the traditional chonmage topknot but it seems to be ready to fall apart, while his wife's ponytail has very visibly come undone and is lower than where it was originally. They trade blows and kicks with great precision and power, the sound of creaking floor and grunts filling the entire dojo.

Naruto chuckles. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised."

They watch on for a while until Asami finally notices the people at the entrance.

"Shoto!" She immediately runs over to him with a burst of energy, getting down to her knees to hug him.

Shoto returns the hug, tightly holding onto her and burying his head in her shoulder. "I'm home."

"Welcome home." Tears begin to flow after her reunion, which Shoto himself is unable to keep himself from joining in.

Itosuke turns back in surprise to find his son at the doorway and follows after in a more calm matter than them, stopping just behind his now-weeping wife with his arms crossed. He tries to put on airs but he's very visibly breathing heavily.

Shoto looks up from his mom's shoulder to look his dad in the eyes. ' _I almost forgot what he was like…'_ He nods a greeting, being unable to give the traditional one. "Father."

"Shoto." Itosuke looks him over. "You've grown."

"Yes." The air grows a little tense. Shoto shyly looks to the side while Itosuke keeps his eyes focused on his son. ' _I got too used to shisho.'_

Asami breaks from her mama bear hug and runs her hands up and down his sides as if actually measuring his growth, still unsure whether or not she's hallucinating. "Of course he has! Look at our precious boy."

"Then show me." Itosuke very unceremoniously walks back to the centre where he and Asami had just been sparring.

"Honey?" Asami looks back to him with a furrowed brow.

"Yes, father." Shoto straightens himself and wipes his eyes dry and walks over to him.

Asami sighs and stands up, dusting her kimoto off. "Honestly, why can't he just…" She then turns to their other visitors and bows deeply. "I apologize for that display, and for not properly greeting you."

Hinata bows back. "Please, there's no need for an apology."

"Yeah," Naruto grins, "You gave the exact greeting you needed to."

"I trust you've been well?" She asks. "Was Shoto well behaved?"

"Nah, he's a pain in the butt." Kotori chimes in to which Yokumaru giggles.

Naruto lightly places a hand on her head and chuckles lightly. "Kotori…" It's not exactly scolding as he knows what those two are like around each other.

Hinata giggles. "He's a wonderful boy and a wonderful student. He takes to training quite well and is quick to learn. I'd say in just a year's time he's caught up to his peers who've studied for longer."

Asami smiles warmly, unable to contain her happiness. "I see. Thank you for taking him under your wing."

Over to the side, Shoto and Itosuke have taken the Shorin-ryu's starting stance. One hand bent with the fist close to the chest, and one hand outstretched. Without a signal, they both move at almost the same time.

Itosuke tries to deliver a kick to the much shorter sparring partner but Shoto ducks under it, trying to use this chance to deliver a punch to the bend of the knee and maybe knock his father off balance. The older Teshin, however, is not one to be taken by such an attack and lifts his leg and hops back with his other leg. Stomping hard on the ground, they take their stances again.

Shoto forms the hand signs for the jutsu that once brought the Teshin clan to great fame.

**[Earth Style: Earth Spear]**

To Itosuke and Asami's surprise, now his entire hand up to his wrist turns light brown and gains an earthen texture, where previously only his fingers were affected.

Shoto wastes no time in lunging forward. He delivers a series of fast punches which are all blocked although they still leave quite the sting where they impact against his father's hands. The boy does try to use his smaller stature to his advantage to get close, but the difference in reach is not one easily overcome.

Shoto attempts to feint his way through by throwing a punch with his right hand but also delivers a kick with his left leg. Both are blocked simultaneously; the punch by being deflected and the kick by Itosuke raising his own leg to intercept his son's. Shoto winces in pain as his leg begins to sting but he pushes through and instead of brings his leg down, raises it even higher and tries to deliver another even higher kick.

Itosuke moves back and lowers his stance, taking a more relaxed position. "I see. You've grown not only in size." He gives a rare, and faint, smile to his son. "You've taught him much despite not being familiar with our style, Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyuga."

Only now does Shoto lower his stance, his skin returning to its usual colour.

"He was very diligent in his self-training." Hinata nods to the boy who can't help but hide his smile.

"Now that you've returned, I believe we are to meet with Lady Hokage." Itosuke grabs a towel and wipes himself off.

"Yeah, we just got one more stop to make." Naruto ruffles Yokumaru's hair.

* * *

**The Kigatsu family household**

* * *

Naruto's group makes their way to the next destination where Naruto sensed the person he was looking for, or rather people. Itosuke and Asami walk with them, having dried off and changed their clothes.

They can't help but be impressed at how many people actually greet Naruto along the way and how many people express their joy at his return to the village. They knew his name was well known and respected but seeing it really drives the notion home.

Speaking of home, the group takes a corner and arrives at a more residential area of the village. This particular part of the village is filled with houses rather than apartment blocks that dominate the more central areas of the Leaf. Naruto walks along confidently as if he's been here many times and knows exactly where he's going.

After passing several houses, they approach two in particular. Decently sized two-story houses that are built separate but share a front yard which is decorated with a table to enjoy the outdoors. On said table are a few people that the group recognizes, relaxing and having a few drinks under the warm sun. A young boy with long sandy hair, a bulky man wearing the Hidden Leaf uniform, and a woman with her teal hair tied up in a spiky ponytail. The woman sitting with them on the table is someone they most likely wouldn't have recognized were it not for some obvious family resemblances.

Yokumaru takes an uncertain step forward, gulping comically loud. He stares at the woman in front of him in disbelief, only moving when Naruto lightly taps him on the back.

When Yoi sees her son, she immediately springs to her feet and starts running. Yokumaru runs to her, tears freely flowing from his eyes.

Where previously she could barely stand up or move with much help, she was now moving with great ease. Where her silver hair was previously messy and like straw, it now shines under the rays. Where her eyes were sunken and hollow, they now brim with life. And tears, but that's only momentarily.

She skids to the ground and the two embrace each other tightly.

"Mom…" The boy is barely able to get out even that one word through his tears.

"My sweet boy." Yoi repeatedly kisses him on the temple. "You're back."

Naruto's group looks on with a smile and stays back a bit to let them have their moment.

"Hm, look at him crying his eyes out." Shoto crosses his arms.

Kotori stares right into his eyes with a smirk. "Oh yeah, what a mama's boys, right?"

"Shadap." Shoto puffs his cheeks, as Asami giggles and wraps her arms around her son, pulling him into a hug.

Guren, Gozu, and Yukimaru approach them, waving. "Welcome home, kid." Guren playfully punches him on the shoulder.

"Naruto!" Yukimaru excitedly hops to him.

"Hey!" Naruto greets them. "What brings you guys here?"

Hinata bows as usual. "I'm glad to see you well."

"You, as well." Gozu nods a greeting back.

"What we're doing here?" Guren points back to the houses. "We live here, next to Yoi."

"So the village accommodated you?" Hinata asks.

"Yeah. When we told the Hokage about our… family situation, we got in contact with Yoi and told her everything I knew about my mom and uncle. So we've been living next to each other as a family of sorts."

"Auntie Yoi's been really nice to us!"

At this point, Yoi and Yokumaru join the group, the boy still clinging onto his mom's clothes. "We're family after, all." Yoi smiles to them before looking down to her son. "And now our home can be complete."

"I'm glad to see you've settled to life here." Hinata looks to Gozu and his shinobi uniform. "And to work, it would seem."

The man pats his flak jacket. "It's been… oddly satisfying, doing honest work."

Naruto leans in to Guren and smirks. "Don't tell me you're skirting off work and letting Gozu take care of it all?"

"Don't be stupid, of course not!" Guren admonishes him. "I've just been given leave because of the pregnancy."

"Oh, is that ri-" Naruto stops. "Wait, what?"

"You're pregnant?" Hinata exclaims, overly excited.

"There's gonna be a mini-Yokumaru?" Kotori chirps.

Asami is also overcome with joy. "I had no idea! Congratulations."

"Really?" Yokumaru looks up to her in surprise.

Guren chuckles. "Yup. You're gonna be an uncle, kiddo. Better get used to it." She reaches over to ruffle his hair.

"Congratulations, you guys!" Naruto pulls all three of them in a hug, which doesn't entirely work given Gozu's enormous size.

Guren awkwardly laughs and pats him on the back. "Okay, didn't think you're this much of a hugger, but sure."

Gozu kind of stands stiff while Yukimaru is much more than open to hugs.

"Then we must hold a celebration for the occasion!" Hinata begins making mental plans on what to do for them.

Guren chuckles. "Oh, if you think _this_ is surprising…"

They cock their heads to her in confusion.

"You'll see." She smirks. "Now, don't you have anywhere important to be?"

"Oh, right!" Naruto turns to Yoi. "We gotta go see Granny Tsunade."

"Of course. Just let me put something a bit more presentable." She takes Yokumaru's hand. "Want to see our new house?"

"Yeah!" He turns to follow her to the house but turns around to look to Kotori and Shoto and reaches out to them with a thoughtful expression. "Ah…" A part of him isn't sure how to ask or even what exactly to ask.

Shoto seems to interpret his look one way. "Don't worry, we'll wait here."

Yokumaru gives a strained smile and lowers his hand.

Kotori sighs, "Dummy," And grabs Shoto by the sleeve and drags him forward, locking her other arm with Yokumaru's.

The young Kigatsu beams a bright smile and they all enter the house while Yoi changes.

* * *

**Hokage's office**

* * *

Before they could even fully enter the office, Tsunade was already in front of her desk to grab Naruto and Hinata into a bear hug and lift them off the ground.

Naruto laughs. "Is this any way for a Hokage to act?"

Tsunade lets them down on the ground and laughs. "I'm allowed my moments." She takes a step back and looks them over. "A year a half, huh? You two've become splendid shinobi, and teachers from what I've been told." She turns to get back to her desk as is proper. "It's good to see you back."

"It's good to be back." Hinata tries to let it show that her arms hurt from the hug.

Naruto leans on the desk. "Granny, what do we gotta do to get the kids into the Academy."

Tsunade nonchalantly grabs a scroll and throws it to him which he catches after it slips from his fingers a few times, in a comical juggle. "Already done. They're free to enroll at any time."

"... Really?" He looks at the scroll.

"What, did you think I wouldn't have prepared this in advance, when I knew you'd be coming home? Give me at least a little credit."

"I also have another request." He sets the scroll aside for now. "I know it's still early but when they graduate, I ask they be put on the same team with me as their sensei. There's still a lotta time 'til then so I plan on working as hard as I have to to get to Jonin."

"Oh, right. Thanks for reminding me." Tsunade takes out another two scrolls and this time places it in front of Naruto, and another one for Hinata who steps forward to take it. "Consider yourselves Jonin effective immediately."

"Really, Lady Hokage?" Hinata looks surprised.

Tsunade shrugs. "I've seen the other villages' reports, how you've handled your missions and how diligently you've worked. I see no reason to put your promotions on hold when every other village recommends you for Jonin."

"That was easy…" Naruto almost seems disappointed.

The Hokage laughs. "What, did you expect to have to make some grand statement to show your dedication and convince me? Sorry, brat, maybe next time. You should be proud of yourselves, not everyone can earn such high praises from all Great Villages." She then looks to the kids to the back with their parents. "As for you, I know it might take a while to get used to your new lives, so take your time. There's going to be an adjustment period but something tells me you're going to be fine."

"Yes, ma'am!" They say in unison.

She takes out three more scrolls, there sure are a lot of 'em…, and motions for the kids to come and take them which they all do, stepping forward with a bit of uncertainty.

Tsunade stands up and formally hands them the scrolls with a smile. "Kotori Uzumaki. Yokumaru Kigatsu. Shoto Teshin. As Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, it's my honour and pleasure to officially welcome you as citizens of the Hidden Leaf Village and the Land of Fire. I know you'll do us proud."

"We will!' Kotori chirps.

"Thank you." Yokumaru nods.

"It is an honour." Shoto bows.

They all take a step back with the rest of the adults, a smile on their faces.

At this point, the door creaks open behind them. "Excuse me, Lady Tsunade…" Shizune's voice comes through. When she enters, she comes to a stop and smiles widely to the old familiar faces. "You're back already! It's so good to see you!"

Naruto and Hinata's faces stand somewhere between joy and utter confusion.

Shizune's previous lithe figure is gone, in favour of a large belly which she has a hand over while holding a folder in her other; very visibly in the later stages of pregnancy.

"Shizune, what did I tell you about rest?" Tsunade scolds her aide and friend.

"Im sorry, I just had something to drop off real quick." She makes an excuse. Seeing the others present in the room she nods a greeting to them.

"You're pregnant, too?!" Naruto shouts out.

Shizune shyly rubs the back of her neck. "We were hoping for more of a surprise reveal than this, but it sounds like you already ran into Anko, anyway, huh?"

Naruto and Hinata share a confused look. "What about Anko? We ran into Guren. Is Anko pregnant, too?" Naruto holds his head in an overdramatized show of surprise. "Is everyone pregnant? What happened this past year?"

"Ah, I know the surprise is kind of ruined but why don't we continue this at your new home? You go get yourselves acquainted with the Uzumaki compound, and we'll be there soon, alright?" Shizune places the folder on Tsunade's desk and pulls Naruto and Hinata into a hug. "We have a lot to talk about. See you there."

"Uh, sure?" Naruto returns the hug.

Hinata does, as well. "Who's 'we', precisely?"

"You'll see." When Shizune heads back out, she stops by Yoi for a brief moment. "You've been feeling well, I hope."

Yoi chuckles. "I'm fine, Shizune, you're free to take a break from your doctoral duties."

When she leaves the room, Naruto and Hinata turn to Tsunade who simply shrugs. "They'll tell you. Just go home and wait."

"Is there anything else you require from us, Lady Hokage?"

"Not right now, Hinata, but I do have a proposition for you. It can wait, though. I imagine you have plenty to deal with right now. For now, you're free to go to the new Uzumaki compound to see your clan." She smiles to Naruto. "I'll fetch someone to take you."

"No need. I sensed Awaji and Kyodo's chakra when we got here, so I'm guessing that's where the compound is?"

"Hah." She laughs. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised. Yeah, that's where it is."

"Then we'll leave you to your work." Hinata bows and makes a turn.

"See ya around, Granny!" Naruto waves.

The group silently makes their way outside of the Hokage's building and into the streets of the village. A new dawn on their lives that none are really certain where it will take them, but a challenge they need to tackle nonetheless.

Yoi takes a deep bow, while Asami and Itosuke give the traditional Teshin bow. "Thank you for taking care of our children."

"Of course!" Naruto gives a thumbs up.

Hinata bows back.

Naruto, Hinata, and Kotori make a turn to head to the Uzumaki clan district, distinctly in the opposite direction of where Yokumaru and Shoto's homes are. It doesn't escape anyone's notice that the two boys subconsciously begin walking with their teachers. They stop after only a couple steps but the realization makes them freeze in place.

The adults watch them, understanding full well what this means for them. Over a year of being with Naruto and Hinata has come to an end, a year that's arguably formed the people they'll become in the future.

Embarrassed, Shoto and Yokumaru exchange a look, both realizing their mistake, and step back. Kotori, on the other hand, lunges at them and pulls them into a hug.

With tears in her eyes, she blurts out. "We'll still hang out a lot, okay?"

They inadvertently join her in the waterworks.

Yokumaru sniffs. "We'll be in the Academy together!"

"And we can still train together!" Shoto grips them even closer.

They remain in the hug for a while longer, while their respective parents remain silent as to not interrupt them, some with a tear in their eye.

They eventually break off with a firm nod to each other, to signal that their team won't be broken so easily, and make their way with their parents.

Hinata holds Kotori's hand, while Naruto places a hand on her head. "Come on, let's go home."

* * *

**Uzumaki clan district**

* * *

It doesn't take long to find its location, given Naruto's Sage sensing abilities already told him where it is. After a relatively short walk from the Hokage's office, they reach a walled off district within the Hidden Leaf, with walls heavily decorated with carvings of swirls and what appear to be sealing formulae. The front gate has the clan name and symbol also carved into a slab that hangs above the entrance, letting everyone know without a doubt who resides here.

With a nervous sigh, Naruto takes both Hinata and Kotori's hands and they enter.

Inside, the overall architecture is the same as one would see elsewhere in the Hidden Leaf, with buildings of both the more standard rectangular shape as most living complexes are and the occasional cylindrical tower of mostly white walls and roof tiles of varying colours but dominantly red.

There are some additions to the style which Naruto recognizes from the Hidden Whirlpool Village, the typical stone structures and columns he saw although these are in a much better shape. They've definitely tried to make their home here.

As Naruto walks the streets, he's recognized by the people inside, getting rounds of applause and cheers. He awkwardly waves to the people, some of which recognizes from the Hidden Sand Village, some with the Uzumaki's red hair others not, being people who either married an Uzumaki or are those people's own family.

"Welcome!"

"Hey, Naruto, remember us?"

" _So that's him?"_ Some people whisper.

" _He's kinda cute."_

"Hey!"

Walking along, they eventually are met by Awaji Uzumaki, former member of the Land of Fire's council, and Kyodo Uzumaki who'd taken a somewhat of a representative role for the group that came in from the Hidden Sand.

"Naruto." Awaji steps to them and shakes Naruto's hand, cupping it with his own. "It is my pleasure to introduce you to the Uzumaki clan."

"Yeah," Naruto looks around nervously. "Like I thought, it's kinda weird seeing all these people I've never seen before here…"

Kyodo chuckles. "It's not exactly familiar territory for us, either. Many of us didn't know each other from before the destruction, and many were either too young to remember or were born after that. I, myself, fall into the third category but my father made sure to tell me where we came from, even if we had to keep it a secret."

"I should probably… I don't know, go around and meet everyone? Is that what I'm supposed to do?"

"We can arrange a meeting for that later, you needn't worry. There will be plenty of time to get to know everyone."

"We're also awaiting visitors at some point." Hinata reminds him. "I believe we should prepare to meet them."

"Oh, right! Guess we gotta take it one step at a time, huh?" Naruto rubs the back of his head.

"Then allow me to show you to your abode." Awaji gestures for them to follow.

Kyodo bows. "Then, I'll take my leave."

During their short walk, Awaji gives them a quick tour of the district, showing them the main clan hall which is visible from nearly everywhere with it being the largest building around, he shows them the park areas that break up the urban landscape, and also shows them his own home in case they ever require something from him.

When they reach their own household, they're greeted by a large two-story house that stands out from the rest by being bigger than average with a larger yard _and_ a larger garden. Walking past the entrance portal, they follow a path surrounded by topiary, bushes trimmed into more unique shapes that gives the home a more exotic look and feel. Behind the topiary are flower beds lined with trimmed grass and flora of varying shapes and colours, making it rival even the Daimyo's gardens in their beauty.

Inside, the first floor has most of the basic arrangement a domicile needs- a kitchen, dining room, living room, and one room that can be turned into anything they might want. The second floor has one master bedroom, and three additional smaller bedrooms. Kotori almost immediately picks one out for herself.

When they get a better look at it, they take some time to take out their things and begin the slow process of making this into their home. It's still all so fresh and clean, it doesn't even really feel real.

In the living room is a wide glass door that leads into a small back garden. As Hinata observes the greenery from the deck and Kotori who's running across it, Naruto walks behind her and hugs her, burying his head in her shoulder. Hinata giggles and places a hand over his.

"We can finally take a break." His voice comes out muffled.

"Indeed." She presses her head against his and extends a hand towards Kotori, who Flickers next to her.

Hinata pulls her into a tight hug prompting Naruto to lift his head and let go of Hinata with one hand to embrace their adopted daughter, as well.

"Now we can finally be a family." Naruto grins. "Sorry it took a bit long to get here."

Kotori shakes her head. "I'm glad we traveled. I dreamed about seeing shinobi every day and I got the chance to! And we met Yokumaru and Shoto on the way, too!"

"You're right." Hinata brushes her hair. "Without them, it probably would've been a bit boring. There's only one thing that needs to be done now..." Her expression sours.

"What is it?" Naruto cocks his head.

"I'm still a member of the Hyuga clan, after all. If we've to live together then I have to speak with father before anything can be decided."

"Ah, right." Naruto tightens the embrace around his two loved ones. "Do you… think he'll somehow forbid you?"

"It's entirely possible but I promise I'll fight if he says no."

"Does gran- does he not want you to?" He stops herself in time. After all, Naruto and Hinata signed up to be her parents but this man is still basically a stranger who she met for a couple days. He didn't exactly sign up to be a grandfather to an already grown child.

"Father has many things to take into consideration. Being a clan leader means he has to remain neutral in many matters."

The young girl looks up to her dad. "Are you gonna have to do that, too?"

"It's… complicated. I'll do everything I can to make sure everyone is happy. I don't want to see anyone suffering somehow. I guess I'll start by going to the prison."

"Prison?" Hinata raises a brow.

"Yeah. I sensed a particular chakra from there I need to check out."

At this point, the doorbell rings, interrupting their family moment. They go to the front door together, somewhat expecting who might be there, or at least some of the people who might be there.

Opening the door, they see four people. Shizune, who they already met earlier, standing hand in hand with Iruka, and an equally pregnant Anko standing hand in hand with Kakashi.

Naruto and Hinata stare with their jaws agape. Naruto's moreso than Hinata.

"Yo." Kakashi gives a mock salute.

Iruka laughs nervously. "Hey, Naruto, Hinata."

"Uh… Hi?" Naruto is still processing the sight in front of him.

Anko sighs and steps forward, inviting herself inside. "Well, you're not gonna let the mother of your godson just stand out here, are ya?" She pats him on the shoulder and walks in.

"Oh, of course, please enter." Hinata hurriedly snaps out of it and welcomes her guests.

"Wait, what?" Naruto looks back to Anko.

The rest make their way inside.

They sit in the brand new living room while Hinata manages to actually find some tea in the somewhat stocked kitchen. They definitely need to buy a few things. She sets out a cup for everyone while they catch up the younger couple.

With Iruka and Shizune's relationship starting not long after they left for the village, and Kakashi and Anko's actually starting when they met in the Land of Earth, the two couple didn't spend long to decide they'd wanted long enough and that they'd found the people they needed in their life. Consequently, both Anko and Shizune are 6 months pregnants, so their due dates are extremely close to each other's.

Throughout most of the conversation, Kotori has her ear pressed against either of their bellies, trying to sense a kick.

"Ah! I felt it!" She pulls back and grins to Shizune who pats her on the head.

"He's been kicking a lot lately."

"We wanted to tell you the news as soon as you got back, although it seems like you happened to find out early." Iruka explains.

"No, it's… still a surprise. But a good one." Naruto stands up and hugs Iruka and Shizune who happily return the gesture. "I'm so happy for you." He then turns to Kakashi and Ako and hugs them, as well. Anko squeezes him exceptionally tight while Kakashi's is more loose.

"Do you know if they're boys or girls? Do you have names picked?" Hinata presses her hands together in excitement.

Iruka nods. "Yeah, we do." He places a hand over Shizune's stomach. "His name is Shohei."

Anko leans on Kakashi's shoulder. "And her name's Azuki."

"Azuki and Shohei?" Kotori coos. "So cute! I can't wait to meet them! I'm gonna need to remember how to be a big sister!"

"That's actually something we wanted to talk to you about." Shizune looks to the other three who nod in agreement, apparently having spoken prior and come to some sort of agreement.

"Naruto." Kakashi leans forward and looks him directly in the eyes. "I'd like to ask you to be the godfather of our daughter."

"Me?" Naruto points to himself. "Are you sure?"

Kakashi nods. "There's no one else I'd rather do it. I can't really go back to change the past but I can affect the future. Losing sensei was a heavy blow but I'd like to keep him as close as I can. I'd like us to be connected even if he and Kushina are no longer with us."

"And I agree wholeheartedly." Anko rubs her lover's back. "I know we're not exactly close, Naruto, but if Azuki has a kickass godfather like you, I know she'll turn out alright."

"That goes for you, as well, Hinata." Kakashi turns to her. "Naruto's going to need help so I trust you'll support him as Azuki's godmother."

"Of course!" She exclaims.

"That's…" The blonde does his best to fight back a tear. He sniffs and wipes his eyes dry. "I won't let you down, sensei!"

"I know." Kakashi smiles under his mask.

"We spoke," Iruka reluctantly begins speaking and shares a look with Shizune, "And we ultimately decided for Lady Tsunade to be Shohei's godmother. If we could have you both, we-"

"It's fine." Naruto interrupts him. "Granny's really important to you, isn't she, Shizune? Same way Iruka-sensei's important to me." He grins and pats his teacher on the shoulder. "Besides, just because I'm not gonna be Shohei's godfather doesn't mean we're not gonna be close, right?"

"Yeah." Iruka tries to fight back a tear and claps Naruto's shoulder in return. "I'm glad you two came back in time."

"We were thinking of having Lady Tsunade order you to come back for their birth." Shizune laughs.

"And of course you can't miss the weddings!" Anko adds. "Well, it'll actually be one joint wedding."

"Oh, right! So you guys aren't…"

"No, we decided to wait until after the kids are born." Kakashi answers.

Naruto can't contain his excitement, having a constant grin on his face. Hinata and Kotori are equally happy for the two couples and bombard them with questions. They all stay for a while longer catching up, sharing fond memories together and sharing stories of the past year, before the older couples eventually need to leave.

On the way out, Naruto pulls them all into another hug. "We'll meet up again, yeah?"

"Of course!"

Naruto and Hinata do also take this opportunity to go to their respective destinations they need to be at, to finish off the busy day's work. Meanwhile, Kotori decides to go grab Yokumaru and Shoto for a tour around the village.

* * *

**Hidden Leaf Village prison**

* * *

Over the past year, Karin has served her sentence by utilizing her skills for the Hidden Leaf. Her incredible chakra has proven invaluable for treating more severe cases and she was promised time off if she helps. And she did. After all, it's not like this is her first time being used by a village. Be it the Hidden Grass, the Hidden Sound, or the Hidden Leaf… When it comes right down to it, they all see her the same way, only the way they treat her is different. At least these guys aren't as abusive or scary, so there's that saving grace.

Today, she's on her way back to her cell after helping at the Hospital, escorted by two ANBU Black Ops as usual, and not really talking as usual. She did try striking up a conversation but quickly gave up; these guys are too into their job.

After yet another completely routine day with little to no deviation, she's resigned herself to going back to her cell and patiently and not-so-quietly wait for the new day so she can do the same thing.

Except, she can already spot a difference from how things usually go. Usually, the door to her cell isn't open, and there aren't ANBU waiting there for her.

She raises a brow, and her anxiety only increases when the two ANBU escorting her share a look. She can't see their faces but she's pretty sure they're also wondering why there's more of them.

The ones by the door simply nod to their colleagues. Presumably they speak Nod. "Congratulations, you'll be serving your sentence as a free woman." The even tone of voice makes it difficult to distinguish whether he's making fun of her or what.

Puzzled, she walks over to her cell to see a man sitting by her bed. A man she distinctly recognizes from over a year 's clothed differently, in the usual Hidden Leaf attire complete with metal arm guards and a rather unique forehead protector with two small horns jutting out, but his blinding blonde hair and deep blue eyes are unmistakable.

"You're… Naruto?" She looks at her surroundings, almost expecting something to have been added or taken away. Nothing's changed.

"Yeah." He stands up from the seat and takes a step closer. "Naruto Uzumaki. And you're Karin. Karin Uzumaki."

Her confusion turns to a glare. "Why do you know that?"

"I sensed your chakra when I got back earlier. And there's no doubt your chakra signature's a match for Awaji, and Kyodo, and the rest, and yet no one seemed to know you're an Uzumaki. Why?"

She looks away. "Because there's no reason for them to know. It's none of their business."

"That makes you family, of course it's their business. You must've heard, right? About the Uzumaki clan coming to the Leaf?" Naruto questions.

"Yeah, I heard, but I lost the only family I ever had a long time ago. Not looking for another." She tries to dismiss any notion he might have about their familial connection.

"I lost my family, too, but that only got me to wanna get closer to people, not further away." He looks to her pleadingly.

"Then I guess that's where our similarities end. If all you came here for was a family reunion of some sort..." She gestures to the door.

"Well, kinda yeah and kinda no." He takes out a scroll and holds it in front of her. "I talked to Granny Tsunade and she agreed to let you free, on one condition."

' _Of fucking course'_ She sighs. "What is it?"

He brings the scroll closer to her, looking her in the eyes with a serious expression. "Come be part of the Uzumaki clan. Help me in leading it."

She stares at him for a moment before bursting out in laughter. "Me? Help you lead?" She has to sit down, she's laughing so hard, her hands on her stomach trying to control herself. After a bit, she calms down and wipes away a tear. Looking up to him, his expression hasn't changed. "You're… serious…"

"Always. Except when I'm joking but that's usually obvious." He shrugs. "Either way, I heard you were in charge of one of Orochimaru's labs. You got the experience keeping a place in check, if nothing else."

"A place of lunatics. Besides, why would you even trust someone like me?" She gets up to her feet and right in his personal space.

She's not really sure why, but something in her sparked, she's agitated and getting fired up over this when she normally wouldn't. It might be because there's a part of her that wants to say 'yes' and the more she talks to him the more she can no longer keep up her aloof act, that there's something about him that makes her want to trust him. Over a year ago, she senses a warmth from him unlike anything she'd sensed before and it's gotten overwhelmingly stronger since then; even the malicious presence she sensed is now gone. For the first time for as long as she can remember… she feels safe just being in the same room as him.

He smiles warmly. "Because you were dealt a bad card in life, and you deserve as much as anyone to live a normal, peaceful life."

Karin looks down and grips the seams of her clothes. "You don't even know me, how can you say something like that?"

"I just can. I prefer to believe in people."

She scoffs. "Easy way to get yourself killed."

"Maybe." He shrugs. "But I've come out on top so far. Even got Sasuke to stop his dumb quest, and I managed to get Guren and Gozu, and Jugo off the hook. Now it's your turn." He scratches his cheek as he chuckles. "Although I might've run out of good faith with this."

"So you're the one who got those two to be the Leaf's watchdogs? But even Jugo?" She furrows her brow.

"Yeah, he should be here soon enough, and hopefully be in control of his jutsu. I got him some help with that."

"You'd even go that far?" She doesn't necessarily frame it as a question that needs answering.

She stares at the scroll, which Naruto is still holding up and has not once lowered throughout this entire conversation. He seems sure that she'll take it which somehow makes her not want to take it, but at the same time the stoney exterior she's tried to build over this year is very easily crumbling down. All her hard work gone when just a glimmer of hope.

She closes her eyes and overdramatically exhales before she places a hand on the scroll. She grips it and looks Naruto in the eyes. "Just so you know, putting your faith in me is a terrible idea."

He grins. "See, you're already advising me. You're perfect for the job."

She opens the scroll and reads through it to see what's required of her. There doesn't seem to be anything too exploitive. All she has to do is play family with her mom's clan and not backstab anyone. Might have to fight some urges but the conditions almost seem too good. She's practically given her freedom with this. She looks to Naruto with disbelief. ' _Did he actually ask for it to be worded this way? Did he actually mean everything he said?'_

"Let's get you moved home, alright?" He begins cleaning up a part of her cell, piling up some scrolls and books she'd been given over the duration of her sentence.

"... What're you doing?"

He looks back to her with a raised brow. "Helping you move? Do you not need this stuff?"

"No, that's not…" She sighs and lowers her head, her bangs hiding her face. "Thank you." She whispers softly.

* * *

**Hyuga clan district**

* * *

The atmosphere surrounding the clan's home hasn't changed much in the past year. The Hyuga have preserved their ways since before the founding of the village and they weren't about to change that suddenly. There's hundreds of years of tradition to preserve, but that also meant it can also come off as a bit stifling.

Hinata is welcomed back home with great joy and the Hyuga who see her arrival rush to her to greet.

"Lady Hinata, welcome back!"

"Thank you, I'm glad to have returned." Her previous worry washes away as she's surrounded by the more supporting members of the clan.

"Has your mission ended, then?"

"It has. I'm back in the Hidden Leaf." She pauses and looks to her childhood home, a place of mixed feelings and memories. ' _But maybe not back in the Hyuga…'_ She stores those thoughts off away for when she actually meets the head of the Hyuga clan. "Is father present?"

"He is! I'm sure he's waiting for you in his office as we speak."

"Thank you." She nods and excuses herself from her company, making her way to meet with her father.

Before she can get far, hasted footsteps hitting the wooden boards approach her with greater speed, becoming louder and louder. When they reach their peak, Hanabi skids from around the corner and immediately tackles her sister into a tight hug.

"You're back!"

"Hanabi!" Hinata embraces her younger sister and is surprised by her growth.

Last they saw each other, Hanabi stood just above Hinata's shoulder but she's grown noticeably taller since, being able to comfortably look over her older sister's shoulder. Her hair has also grown considerably longer, now reaching all the way to her lower back.

When they break, Hinata looks over Hanabi a bit better. "You've grown so much!"

Hanabi grins and spins in place, her yellow kimono swirling with her. Her long hair twists with her, showing it tied with a ribbon in the back, in addition to the two strands that frame her face and reach all the way past her chest, also tied with pink ribbons.

"Right? Aren't I cute?"

Hinata giggles. "Shouldn't the boys be saying that about you?"

Hanabi grumbles. "They would if they weren't all such cowards."

"Are you sure you're not scaring them off?" Hinata raises a brow.

"Of course not!" The young Hyuga protests. "Say, are you on your way to see father?"

"I am, yes. I must announce my arrival, after all."

Hanabi takes her hand and begins leading her to the office. "Come on, we can see him together!"

They go where they typically find their father. Part of Hinata is glad that Hanabi met her and helped her calm down a bit just by being here. They stop in front of the wooden screen door and Hanabi announces their presence.

"Father, Elder Sister has returned."

"Enter." Hiashi's voice resounds from inside.

Sliding the door open, they both enter and see the clan head going over some paperwork at his desk. When he turns to look at them, a faint smile adorns his usually strict visage. As is customary, the sisters sit down seiza-style in front of his desk.

"Hinata, welcome back."

"It's good to be back. I hope we're not interrupting." She acknowledges the current writing in his hand.

"Ah, not all. I'm simply going over some things for the next clan meeting. Things are about to change in the Hidden Leaf with the presence of a new clan, but I suppose I don't need to tell you that."

Hinata breaths in, lightly running her fingers over pants as a substitute for nervous fidgeting. "That's actually what I wished to speak to you about."

Hiashi raises a brow. "About the Uzumaki?"

"Yes. I would like…" Her chest tightens as she tries to find the proper words. She lightly shakes her head. "No. Father, henceforth I shall live in the Uzumaki compound, with Naruto Uzumaki."

Hanabi audibly gasps, holding her hands over her mouth.

Hiashi sets aside his document, freeing up the desk in front of him. "I see. So you've decided, then. I'm in agreement." He nods.

"You are?" Both his daughters say in unison.

"Naturally. The Uzumaki name are one recognized throughout the entire shinobi world and if they have the ability to regain their renown, they will be a valuable ally to the Hyuga. If a union is to be made, then we also must begin negotiations and preparations posthaste."

"Yes, of course." Hinata puts on a smile, one she had to train herself to put on for years, to hide her emotions and present herself as a diligent daughter. "If there is no issue, I shall take my leave." She begins to stand up, trying her best to hide her expression from her family; her smile can only stay up for so long.

"Sis…" Hanabi wants to comfort her sister but is aware of the situation. Her words most likely won't make a difference.

"Of course," Hiashi contonies speaking, "That is what I must say as clan leader. As a father, it pleases me you've found happiness."

Hinata freezes while she's in the middle of standing up and stares at her father, the corners of her eyes watering.

"I can't say that I'm proud, as I sadly had nothing to do with your growth. In fact, I'd say that your growth was in spite of me." He lowers his head.

She straightens herself. "No, that's not true! The reason I was able to look forward was not something malicious."

"It's quite alright, Hinata." Hiashi stands up to his feet and walks over to his daughter. He brushes her long locks with a sorrowful smile, a gesture he's never shown her in all her eyes. "I've… had the opportunity to reflect on all that I've done to you, and to Hanabi for that matter. I owe you both an apology."

"Father…" Hinata leans into her father's hand.

Hanabi stands up, as well, and Hiashi motions her to join them, wrapping an arm around her back.

"I'm glad you've found your home, Hinata, and that you've grown into such a wonderful woman and splendid shinobi. That you two have remained close despite my attempts to pit you against each other. I know I'm late, but I promise to be more of a father to you."

With tears in their eyes, they both hug their father who embraces them tightly.

They spend a few more minutes as a family for what feels like the first time in an eternity. They later opt to sit on the deck overlooking the garden, a cup of tea in hand and a pleasant atmosphere overtaking the stiffness that they felt before.

"What do you intend to do now?" Hiashi takes a sip.

"I'm not entirely certain myself. I've not had a clear goal for the future in a while, but going to all the different villages, living among the people there, and going on missions with them… It's made me look at our newfound peace in a different light. I wish to preserve it, for all our sakes, so I intend to speak with Lady Tsunade. I wish to take on a more official role, perhaps work together with the other villages in some capacity to ensure we don't stray from our path."

"That's certainly a goal worth pursuing. I do believe Lady Tsunade and the other Kage have something in the works for better relations; you may speak to her about your candidacy."

She nods. "I will."

Hanabi, sitting on the railing, swings her legs back and forth, enjoying her tea. "How were the other villages like?"

"Not much different from our own, in the ways that matter. They're all close and cherish one another, and they, too, see the value in our alliance."

"Hmm…" Hanabi lets herself fall back, still keeping herself on the railing using her legs but now hanging upside down. "You've become a worldly woman thanks to your trip with Naruto, huh? So, when's the wedding?"

"Hanabi." Hiashi scolds her, although it's uncertain whether it's for her current pose or for the question. It might be both.

Either way, she pulls herself back up.

"We've… not exactly spoken about that."

"I'm certain the time will come when it must." Hiashi nods.

"For now, I have to focus on better myself." Hinata finishes her tea and stands up. "I intended to speak with Lady Tsunade at a later time, but there's no use in waiting. I'll go before she leaves her office." She bows to her family before departing. "We'll speak again."

"I'd like it to be with Naruto, as well. And Kotori. A… family meeting of sorts." Hiashi gives his rare smile.

"Of course!" Hinata beams and Flickers away to catch the Hokage in time.

* * *

**A couple of days later**

**Hidden Leaf Academy**

* * *

The time has come for the Uzumaki, Kigatsu, and Teshin families to officially enroll the children in the Academy. Kotori herself has some experience from her time in the Hidden Cloud, but this will last for the next 4 years; it will become their daily life from now on until they graduate as true shinobi.

They are led to the teacher's lounge by one Iruka Umino, showing them around the building, although Naruto and Hinata are somewhat familiar with the basics. Of course, this building is different from the one they studied in, but the general structure is similar enough.

"I've been told the children are quick to learn so I'm sure they won't face any problems." Iruka reassures the parents. "We have a strong class this year so I'm sure they'll fit right in."

"Are you gonna teach 'em, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asks.

"Ah, no, I won't be their teacher but I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by who will."

As they reach the teacher's lounge, Iruka opens the door to the many teachers currently inside preparing the materials for their respective classes. Iruka walks up to one in particular who even from the back looks strikingly familiar- hair braided into two buns, which then falls down her back and is connected into a single plait.

"Tenten-sensei, your new students have arrived."

Tenten whips arounds and grins when she sees Naruto and Hinata in particular. "Hey, you two."

"Tenten?" They both show their surprise in unison. "You're a teacher?" Naruto asks.

"Sure am! Well, in truth this is my first class." She rubs the back of her head. "So it still feels weird to be referred to as a teacher."

"And your class all love you." Iruka compliments her.

"So you're mom and dad's friend?" Kotori chimes in.

Tenten bends down slightly, placing her hands on her knees. "I am, yes! We were Genin together. You must be Kotori, huh?" She then looks to the boys. "And you'd be Yokumaru and Shoto."

They all nod.

Their new sensei straightens herself and smiles. "I've heard a lot of good things about you, but don't let that get to you, alright? Do your best and everything will be alright! Now how about we get you to class?"

"Yes, sensei!" They answer in unison.

Yoi turns to Iruka and bows. "Thank you for facilitating us, Iruka-sensei."

"Yes, we appreciate your assistance." Asami gives her gratitude as well.

"There's no need, really. It's our duty to ensure the kids are well taken care of."

Yoi smiles. "Perhaps, but this is not a future I ever envisioned for us when we lived in the capital. This means more than I can express." She kneels down and brushes Yokumaru's hair. "Listen to your sensei, alright?" She kisses him on the forehead.

"I won't."

Asami pulls Shoto closer. "I'm so proud of you. Don't give the others kids too much trouble."

"Of course not."

"Don't worry, auntie Yoi, auntie Asami! I'll keep these two in check." Kotori puffs out her chest.

"Like you even can." Shoto huffs.

Hinata chuckles and pats her adopted daughter's head. "We leave them in your hands, Tenten. Will you be alright, Kotori?"

"Yeah! We got this!" The girl pumps her fist.

"Alright, then we'll leave you to it, alright?" Naruto leans down to give her a hug. "We got an important day today. We'll see you when classes end."

"We'll definitely meet up later, alright?" Tenten mimics drinking from a cup.

"Definitely!"

With that, the parents take their leave, allowing the kids to be introduced. Naruto and Hinata excuse themselves for their respective important meetings.

* * *

**Hokage's Office Building**

* * *

The official administrative building that the Hokage operates from is also where basically every administrative meeting that's of import to the village takes place. Besides the Hokage's office, there's the council room for the Hokage and their advisors to discuss matters in a bit more privacy, there's also the meeting room where the clan heads meet, and another meeting room that've been given a new purpose in these new times. The last two are where Naruto and Hinata are headed to respectively.

Walking down the corridor, Shikamaru leads them both to their designated meeting places, with Naruto holding some kind orange cloth.

"Today's meetings are really more of a formality than anything, so don't expect too much from them. To begin with, you're both still new to your positions so take this as a chance to better acquaint yourselves with the atmosphere, and the people you'll be working with." The advisor explains.

"You sound so formal." Naruto chuckles. "But you'll be one of the people we'll be working with, right?"

"Well, in a way. I do take an advisory role but the clan meeting is for the clan leaders. If my opinion is needed, I'll give it."

Hinata cocks her head. "But are you not the head of the Nara clan?"

Shikamaru shakes his head. "No, I'm not. Because I took the role as the Hokage's personal advisor, I have to keep myself in a neutral position and think of the village's issues and interests as a whole. If I have to also think of the Nara clan's personal issues and interest, that creates a conflict of interest."

"I see. I wasn't aware you'd stepped down."

"Man, clan things are already sounding complicated and I haven't even gotten there." Naruto grumbles.

Shikamaru chuckles. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it. Also, what's that?" He points to the cloth in Naruto's hands.

"Oh, this? Just a little something I picked up."

Shikamaru raises a brow but doesn't question. He stops at one door and nods to Hinata. "This is your stop. The clan hall is a bit further down."

"Thank you, Shikamaru." She bows to their friend and classmate before turning to her boyfriend and giving him a light hug. "Good luck."

"You, too." He leans down to kiss her on the forehead before they part ways.

-x-

_Shinobi Union Hall_

The Shinobi Alliance may be what won the Fourth Great Ninja War, but the Shinobi Union is what currently keeps the peace alive and well. With the project of sending shinobi to all the other Great Villages proving to be a success in keeping positive relations, the Kage made the decision to take a step farther.

At its core, the Shinobi Union is a program for ambassadors. Shinobi from each village who take on the responsibility of representing their village and their best interests, by living full time in another Hidden Village. This does require one to practically uproot their life and change everything they'd known, but many jumped at the opportunity.

Currently, in the Hidden Leaf's Shinobi Union Hall, five figures await the arrival of the last. Kakashi is present in a more advisory role to ensure the meeting goes smoothly and to assist with any question that may arise about the meeting.

At a round table, five chairs stand proudly, each adorned with the symbol of their respective Hidden Village.

From the Hidden Stone, **Ittan** sits rather laid-back and has visibly relaxed thanks to the identity of his neighbour.

"I'll be honest, I was relieved when I heard you're also here! It's really better to work with people you know you work well with, huh?"

From the Hidden Mist, **Kiri** laughs and offers a brotherly handshake as the two war buddies grip each other's forearm.

"I was relieved, too. This is all new to me, if I'm being honest."

"Me, too, actually." Ittan gives a nervous laugh.

"So you two are friends then? From the shinobi exchange?" The woman on Kiri's right turns their attention.

From the Hidden Cloud, **Karui** sits with her back firmly against the chair and leaning on the arm rests, her long red hair lying over her shoulder so it doesn't get trapped.

"From the War, actually." Kiri corrects her. "We were together in the Commando Unit."

"I see. So you were with Omoi then?" She smiles.

"We were, yeah! You know him?" Ittan asks.

"We're teammates, actually. Or, I suppose we were." She shrugs.

"You don't really stop being a team just because you're apart." The woman on Karui's right chimes in.

From the Hidden Sand, **Temari** sits with her legs crossed and her fan resting by her chair.

"I suppose you're right." Karui chuckles. "As much of a pain as he is, he's basically like a brother."

At this point, the final figure enters the room. Hinata walks in and bows to everyone gathered in the room. "I apologize for keeping you waiting."

Kakashi smiles and motions to the empty chair engraved with the symbol of the Hidden Leaf. "Not at all, we're still technically early."

Hinata takes a seat and smiles warmly to those gathered. "It's wonderful to see you all again."

Kiri chuckles. "I didn't expect to meet again so soon."

"So you're the Leaf's chosen, huh?" Temari smiles.

Kakashi goes around the table and places a folder in front of each of them. "Now then, I'll go over the basics for today. Whatever questions arise, feel free to ask right away."

The ambassadors nod and the meeting commences.

-x-

_Clan Hall_

The clan heads have also all gathered and are waiting on the newest head of the newest clan to make his entrance. Sat at a rectangular table, the leaders are split evenly on each side, with the Tsunade sitting in the central position with a view on everyone.

On the edge of the table is Choza Akimichi, Fifteenth Head of the Akimichi clan. A man of great stature and wild red hair, he easily overshadows anyone else in the room.

Next to him is Ino Yamanaka, Eighteenth Head of the Yamanaka Clan. Currently the youngest clan head, although she now shares that title with another, she had to take on the responsibility since the unfortunate passing of the previous head.

Ensui Nara, Thirteenth Head of the Nara clan, is as calm and composed as a Nara usually is, patiently awaiting for the meeting to start. The dark green markings under his eyes give him a rather lazy appearance, which can be considered a trademark for the clan, but he's certainly nothing short of attentive.

Shibi Aburame, Thirteenth Head of the Aburame clan, is the picture of calm as always. The only indication that he even moves his head is the ever slight twitch of the tassel that hangs from his sunglasses, if one can even see it from his high collared coat.

The person next to him is really the exact opposite. Tsume Inuzuka, Nineteenth Head of the Inuzuka clan, sits rather impatiently with one foot raised on the chair and being used to rest her elbow.

On the opposite side of the table, is Hiyo Shimura, Sixteenth Head of the Shimura clan. An older man that shows her experience with her cold expression and focused gaze. The right side of her head is shaved but whether it's by choice or because of the scars that cover nearly the entire right side of her head, it's difficult to say. The rest of her long black hair rests over her left shoulder.

Taisaku Sarutobi, Seventeenth Head of the Sarutobi clan and eldest son of the Third Hokage, is an older man with short brown spiky hair and a goatee that ends with a pointed tip at his chin. A scar running through his lips interrupts his facial hair as the tissue hasn't allowed it to grow back.

Fusuma Senju, Sixteenth Head of the Senju clan, is a young woman with a long brown ponytail, a strand of white hair running through the entire length. She's resting her elbows on the table, and has her chin atop her intertwined fingers, occasionally gazing at the door.

Hiashi Hyuga, Thirteenth Head of the Hyuga clan, presents himself as dignified as he always does, remaining motionless and calm as can be not allowing his feelings or emotions to show.

The seat next to him is currently empty. As with the rest of the chairs, the symbol of its clan is engraved in the backrest; this one being a swirl within a circle.

They all turn to the door when they hear two sets of footsteps approaching. The doors swing open with Shikamaru Nara entering and making his way to his position by the Hokage's side.

After him, Minato Namikaze enters the room.

In his shock, Choza jumps from his seat, hitting and slightly shifting the table's position

"Is… something wrong?" Naruto's voice fills the room. He looks around nervously wondering whether he did something wrong?

When Choza blinks, he instead sees Naruto standing by the door.

Dressed in the standard Hidden Leaf uniform, metal arm guards with a plate going over the back of his palm, a forehead protector with two small horns from the sides, and over his flak jacket, a haori- an orange coat with a black flame pattern at the hem.

For all intents and purposes, he's a modern version of his father.

"Ah, no." Choza blinks and shakes his head, sheepishly sitting back down. His cheeks are reddened from his sudden outburst. "My apologies."

Hiashi leans forward on the table. "It's quite alright, Choza." He looks to Naruto with a smile. "I believe we all saw it."

The general mood around the room lifts as the rest of the leaders take a more relaxed pose.

Tsunade smiles. "First Head of the Uzumaki clan, Naruto Uzumaki." She very deliberately raises her voice to make a big deal out of it. "Please take your seat."

**END OF PART 1**

* * *

**Name meanings:**

Shohei Umino (うみの ショヘイ, _Umino Shohei_ ) = ' _Shohei'_ means ' _tranquility_ '. His full name translates to 'tranquility of the sea'.

Azuki Hatake (はたけ アズキ, _Hatake Azuki_ ) = named after azuki beans. Azuki bean paste is also called anko.

Hiyo Shimura (志村 ヒヨウ, _Shimura Hiyō_ ) = ' _hiyou_ ' means ' _flying_ ', in reference to famed ninja Danzō Katō, known as Flying Katō.

Taisaku Sarutobi (猿飛 タイサク, _Sarutobi Taisaku_ ) = His name, when spelled as 泰昨, means 'peaceful yesterday', keeping in line with his brother Asuma's name which means 'true tomorrow'.

Fusuma Senju (千手 フスマ, _Senju Fusuma_ ) = named after ' _fusuma_ ', a sliding door in traditional Japanese households.

* * *

**Author's note:**

I've tried not to mire the fic with too many personal messages and just keep it to information about the fic and its characters, but this is a huge milestone for me and I'm ecstatic to have reached this point! Thank you to the people who've read up to this point, and I hope you'll enjoy what's planned for Part 2. Thank you for the follows and the faves, and a big thank you for the reviews; they really kept me going and made me want to improve my writing so you have something better to enjoy your free time on.

* * *

**REWRITE NOTICE**

Now that I've hit this milestone, I intend on taking a bit of a break to go back and fix some elements in the story I feel are a bit… lacking. This could be something minor like just retouching grammar and being more descriptive in certain scenes, but there's also going to be some bigger additions, like more dialogue between relevant characters that was skipped over when I originally wrote it. Either way, I plan on adding in a 'Chapter' that details any change I've made so anyone who's been amazing enough to read it so far doesn't feel the need to re-read it all over again. The first change comes in changing the name from 'The Tale of the Gutsy Ninja' to 'Naruto Karyuden'.

Thank you, everyone, for being here in my entry into writing fanfics!


	41. Side Story: Lesson Learned

**SIDE STORY: A LESSON LEARNED**

* * *

Shizune is desperately going over documentation in the Hokage's office. As usual there's several mountain of them stacked in front of her as she's temporarily using Tsunade's comfy chair, because her back started killing her on that sofa, and then the floor. She's all alone and she has way too much on her plate. Tsunade is out at a Kage Summit, along with Kakashi and Shikamaru, so she's stuck here dealing with administrative details.

It wouldn't be so bad IF AT LEAST ONE THING WAS GOING TO PLAN.

Documents have been mislabeled, forms not filled out properly, papers sent to the wrong addresses and in some cases, even to the wrong Hidden Village, so that's extra waiting time for them to be returned and hopefully sent to the correct Village this time. Somehow, everything became a mess all at once. And worst of all-

There's a knock on the door.

Shizune sighs. She was hoping for some alone time for a panic attack. "Come in." Her voice comes out as raspy. She then realizes she hasn't actually spoken a single word in a while or drank any water.

A man with a high ponytail and a scar running across his face pokes his head in. Iruka Umino, teacher at the Academy walks in holding a folder.

He takes a look at the chaos in the room- stacks of paper on the desk, books and scrolls on the ground, boxes tucked away in the corner. And Shizune rummaging through the Hokage's desk.

"Uhh, is this a good time, Shizune?"

"Yes, of course." Her voice still sounds like sandpaper. She finally seems to find what she was looking for, and takes out a bottle. "Aha!" She takes a swig but almost immediately spits out the contents. "Sake. I should've known..." She sighs and turns to Iruka, her voice now jolted back to normal. "How may I help you, Iruka?" She tries to force a smile but the sake burns.

"Oh, well, I was actually here to ask about the new medical training program for the Academy. "

Long ago when Tsunade was still a Jonin, she tried to put together exactly such a program that would ensure more medics are present and available to go on missions, as most of the current medics are typically hospital-bound and are only sent as back-up once the mission is complete. The current idea for such a training program is to engrain medical ninjutsu as a part of Academy studies and begin training from a much younger age to either be specialized medics or to simply know first-aid. Shinobi like Ino Yamanaka are a perfect example of what the end goal is- possessing their own talents and skills, but having at least a little bit of medical training to keep their team in one piece. It would take a good deal of work to get the program fully going and interest the students in a field of ninjutsu that actually requires much more concentration than anything currently taught, but they intend on making it successful.

Shizune buries her face in her hands. "I swear I was going to get to that soon."

"It's alright. I just thought I'd come on my own to check, since I know you're swamped with work. If it's ready, I'll just take it off your hands."

Shizune's face is still in her palms. "That's the thing, I don't have it and I don't know if we will."

"But… we need that for the new curriculum."

She flails her arms. "I know that! But some of our medics fell ill, including the ones who were supposed to train the students in medical ninjutsu and I don't have anyone else available because they're already in the middle of other work and I can't pull them out of it now." She grumbles. "I'm sorry. I've been trying to juggle things around, hoping to have an answer for you, but..."

Iruka purses his lips in contemplation. "Alright, so we have a setback."

"Everything is ruined." Shizune whines and looks at the sake bottle. "I think I see why she keeps it."

"No! No, it's not. About the ruined part, I… can't speak for the sake. We just… have to think outside the box for a bit. Okay, so the medics ironically fell ill. Is it serious? How long would it take them to recover?"

"They've been given two weeks, but even after recovery it wouldn't be safe to expose them to the kids. We'd need to push back the start of the new medical training program but that would leave a gap in your usual classes. I guess you could fill it with another class in the meantime, or leave them with an extended break."

Iruka chuckles. "An extended break? You haven't been around kids much, have you? We wouldn't be able to get them back in class. And filling even temporarily would require us to switch around a lot of things, too."

"Any bright ideas, sensei?"

Iruka sits down on the couch to mull it over. When he does, he hears an oink from under some scattered papers next to him. "Oh…" He takes a peak under them, only to see Tonton lying there.

Her resting place disturbed, she chooses Iruka's lap as the next best thing.

"Hello, Tonton." He chuckles and begins looking through the folder he's holding while the piglet rests on his lap. Said folder contains a few example schedules that the teachers prepared in waiting to find out where and how the medics would come in to teach, as well. "Hm, I just don't see it working with how we'd assumed until now. Unless..."

"Unless?" Shizune sounds hopeful that the teacher has an idea.

"How about we teach it for the first week or two?"

Shizune's shoulders slump. "Iruka, I mean no offence; you're a good man and a good teacher, but you're not a medical ninja. This is a highly specialized practice."

"That's true, and I don't mean to sound like I'm underestimating medical ninja. However, it has theory and laws like anything else, correct? We could stall by teaching a bit about the history of medics, about the idea behind the ninjutsu, maybe even begin working on their finer chakra control. And once the medics are free, they can take over and actually show them what it is."

She taps her cheek with a single finger. "That… could potentially work?" She still sounds uncertain. "But how would you split the classes? Even you can't lead two classes at once. The kids who will enter medical training need to unlearn everything they've been taught until now and get into a new mindset about what their role will be on missions. They'll have a completely different skill set from the rest of the class."

Iruka absent-mindedly scritches Tonton behind the ear, going over the draft schedule once more. "Wait…" He taps on the papers. "You're right. Those kids will need to unlearn everything we've taught them, but the same goes for the rest, correct?"

Shizune raises a brow. "In what way?"

"You said it yourself, these kids need to learn that being a medic comes with new responsibilities, but on the flip side, the other kids also need to learn that having a medic on their team changes the dynamic they might expect or be used to."

"You're… right. We never took that into account during planning." She bites her lip.

"It might actually be a good thing that this happened because we can now shift out focus."

"Instead of teaching just one group how to be medics, we can teach all of them how having a medic on the team changes things." She finishes his thought.

"Exactly!" He leans forward, only stopping himself because of an irritated oink coming from a disturbed rest. "Things like teamwork, battle formations, even mock combat… At the very least, the other teachers and I are perfectly capable of showing them that for the first couple of weeks."

Shizune slumps back in her chair. "But that's still a lot of extra knowledge you'd all be required to learn that wasn't part of your job before. Think you could handle the extra pressure?"

He nods. "I never said it was going to be easy but I should be able to put something together. It probably won't be as extensive as what a real medic could put together but it'll get them started."

"You're a lifesaver, Iruka-sensei." She smiles. "This might actually be a better program than what we were originally planning."

"Of course. This is for the kids, after all. For the future of the Hidden Leaf." He stands up and begins making his way for the door. "I best go to the library and find some beginner books. Sooner I get started, the better. See you soon, Shizune."

Before he opens the door, Shizune calls out to him. "Ah, wait. That might not be necessary." She stands up and checks the bookshelf that stands in the office. "Hmm, where was it… Ah, here it is." She pulls out a book and walks over to hand it to Iruka. "A more beginnery book for medics. It has pretty much everything you'd need to know, and it's actually not written overly complex. It should be perfect."

"Thank you, Shizune, this should do well." He smiles and takes the book from her, looking it over.

"I'm also going to need her back." Shizune points down to his other arm which is still holding the piglet.

"Oh…" Iruka turns her in the cheeks. "I'm sorry, I got carried away."

Shizune sincerely laughs, probably for the first time in a while given all these troubles that cropped up. "It's quite alright." She takes the sleepy pig from his which snuggles into her own arms. "I'll check up on the Academy when I can."

"Don't put too much strain on yourself, alright?" Iruka opens the door and steps out. "Village still needs you. Have a good day." He lowers his head.

"You, too, sensei."

When he closes the door, Shizune stretches and prepares to head back to work albeit a bit reluctantly. First however, she takes the bottle of sake and dumps its contents out the window.

* * *

After two days of getting chaos back to order, Shizune was able to actually get some free time for herself, leaving the office a bit earlier than she usually does these days- early evening as opposed to late evening. However, that doesn't mean she's going to stop worrying or that she's going to use this time to actually rest. It's just not in her nature. No, she's headed for the Academy, Tonton snuggled in her arms, to check up on Iruka and his progress on the temporary curriculum, and maybe offer him some help if he needs it.

Thankfully, the Hokage Building and the Academy are joined buildings so it's not even that much trouble to go there, she's just been swamped by other things. The entire Academy is completely dark, save for one single room- the teachers' lounge which she suspects is where Iruka Umino is. She makes her way inside the eerily quiet and echoey corridors, passing the currently empty classrooms.

Reaching the lounge, she knocks to make her presence known and waits for several moments. No response. She knocks again only to be met by the same. "Iruka-sensei?" She decides to forgo formalities and simply enter.

"Oink?" Tonton inquisitively looks around.

The decor is a fairly simple one, with rows of work desks that are each assigned to an individual teacher, with slightly elevated wooden barriers surrounding them from three sides. The lights are on as she saw from outside, but there's no one here.

She steps inside and looks around for any signs of life. "Hello? I'm Shizune from the Hokage's-" When she passes one row of desks, she sees a figure slumped over their desk, sleeping.

An easily recognizable ponytail identifies the man as Iruka. She raises a brow and approaches the sleeping teacher. Coming a bit closer to him, she sees the book she'd given him opened in front of him and multiple papers' worth of notes about medical practices and strategies. He's clearly been thoroughly going over the book, apparently to the point of passing out at work.

"Iruka?" She gently nudges him. A part of her feels sorry for interrupting him but another part of her knows the importance of proper rest and proper rest this is not.

Iruka moans in his sleep and shifts a little but does not wake up.

"Iruka." She pushes him a bit harder but he does not stir.

Tonton sighs and pulls herself free from Shizune's arm, landing on the papers on Iruka's desk. She bites down on the teacher's ear and tugs hard at it.

With a cry of pain, he finally wakes up. Tonton looks proud of herself.

"Tonton?" He groggily questions her presence. "And… Shizune?" He turns to her and the sight almost makes her recoil back. Iruka's eyes are bloodshot and sunken in, nearly invisible from the dark circles around his eyes. He weakly tries to smile but it comes off as strained. "What brings you here?"

"I… originally came to see how progress is going on the curriculum, but now I'm more worried about you." She places a hand on his forehead and leans in to inspect his eyes. "You haven't been sleeping properly, have you?"

"No time. The new training starts tomorrow and I still haven't mapped out the entire program for the next two weeks." She leans back from her and turns to his desk, rummaging through the papers to put them in order and needing to tug some of them from under Tonton's hooves.

Shizune facepalms. "Iruka… When I agreed to let you do this, I thought the 'Don't work yourself sick, too' part didn't need to be said. What do you think will happen if you're unable to lead class tomorrow?"

"I still need to finish it. I have the first week mapped out but the others will need enough time to go over the materials and properly prepare, so the more I get done sooner, the better." His stomach grumbles. Rather, it might be more accurate to call it a roar.

"And food?" She asks even though she already knows the answer.

"I'll eat breakfast tomorrow." He waves his hand dimissively.

"Alright…" She grabs him by the arm and pulls him to his feet, being surprisingly lighter than she thought he'd be. Might be he's naturally light or might be him not taking proper care of himself. "If you think I'm going to just let you work yourself to the ground, you're sorely mistaken."

He stumbles a bit but straightens himself as best he can. "I'm fine, really."

"That's not for you to say." She begins walking to the door, pulling him with her. "Consider this your doctor's orders. Food and proper rest. At the very least, I can make sure the first one happens."

Iruka resigns to his fate and obediently drags his feet behind her, Tonton running around them to outside. Iruka does remember to switch off the lights and lock the door before following after to the outside.

-x-

Maybe because it's Iruka in question but when connecting him and food, her mind immediately went to Ichiraku Ramen and she realized somewhere along the way that's subconsciously where she's taking him. She also realizes that she's been holding him by the hand for some time, dragging him behind her so she quickly lets go, flustered.

"You know, you don't have to go this far…" Iruka whines.

"Of course I do!" She protests. "I'm the one who put you in this situation and I allowed for you to go overboard. And besides…" Her tummy growls, "I could use something to eat, too."

Iruka stares for a moment before he bursts out laughing. "Alright, I'll give in."

Reaching the new Ichiraku Ramen restaurant which is vastly different and much bigger from the simple stall it used to be, they enter the establishment and are met by the distinct smell of ramen and noodles right away, coming from the kitchen in the back but also from the occupied tables around them. There're some empty tables but Ichiraku is definitely enjoying a good deal of popularity, hence the expansion.

They take a seat at the bar counter which has the same tall stools it used to have before.

Ayame is there to greet them with a bright smile. "Shizune, Iruka-sensei, didn't expect to ever see you two here together. What can I get you?"

Shizune chuckles. "Circumstances led to it. I'll have a bowl of miso pork with fishcake toppings. And could I get a bowl of veggies for Tonton?"

"Ooooink..." Tonton tries hard to climb up on the stool with no success until Shizune picks her up and places her on top. "Oink!"

"Same for me, Ayame." Iruka places his order, as well. "The ramen, not the veggies."

Ayame chuckles. "Coming right up!" The young woman peeks through a window behind the counter and shouts out to whoever is back there, "Two miso pork with fishcakes! A bowl of veggies!" And continues her work at the counter.

"I'm surprised you'd pick to come here, though." Iruka looks around. "Didn't strike me as the ramen type."

Shizune sighs. "It's somehow the destination that came to mind. I somehow connect you to this place, you were always here with Naruto, right?"

Iruka chuckles. "Yeah, there's definitely a lot of memories here. It was… really the only place that would let him sit down and enjoy a meal so it kind of became special to me, too." He smiles as he runs his hand over the counter. It's actually the same one from before, just polished up a little and a tad more presentable. The establishment may have changed but Teuchi is the sentimental sort.

"I see." Shizune smiles. "That's awfully kind of you."

His cheeks turn red. "Oh, I'm not sure I'd go that far. I haven't done a whole lot."

"Of course you have. You went above and beyond for that boy and helped him realize who he is today. Although I suppose I can't call him a boy any more."

"Yeah, he's grown more than even I thought he would, and I'm sure he'll be even more of a man once he and Hinata come back from their mission."

Ayame places two bowls in front of them. "Here you go. Enjoy!"

They both grab a pair of chopsticks from a dispenser on the counter and separate them. "Thank you for the meal."

They keep up a mild chatter as they eat but they're both actually famished so they focus mostly on the food which they actually devour in a very short amount of time at almost the same time. It feels like being here amplified their already present hunger to the nth degree.

Ayame picks up the bowls to clean. "I hope it was to your liking."

"As always." Iruka chuckles. "Thank you."

"It certainly was." Shizune smiles to the young woman and exhales heavily, feeling much better now. She then turns to Iruka for the matter at hand. "So, how much material have you gotten down, sensei?"

He stretches his arms and groans. "I've gotten most of the basics down and we already discussed how the new team training will go. It's short notice but I think we managed well enough. We have enough material for a crash course in medical ninjutsu, so the medics-to-be can learn what they're supposed to do, and so the others can learn what their future teammates are about. Still have a good deal of material to go through, through."

"I must say I'm impressed. I intended to offer help since I'm a bit more free now but looks like it's not needed."

"Oh it's very much needed!" Iruka laughs. "If you've the time, I'd be grateful if you could look over what I've prepared. I'd feel much better to have a professional's opinion."

"I'd be more than happy to, although… we did leave your notes back at the Academy." She gives an apologetic smile.

Iruka raises a brow in confusion. "Oh, those? Those are the notes for next week. The ones for this week are back home."

"Oh." Shizune's cheeks turn a light shade of red. "Then… we could go there. To look at the notes." She turns forward to try and hide her blush. 'I don't think I've actually been to a man's place before…'

Of course, why she may have hidden her blush by turning forward, that doesn't hide it from Ayame whose eyes she does meet. The younger woman grins and gives a thumbs up, which prompts Shizune to stand up faster and more stiff than she ever intended.

"Shall we?" She places the money on the counter and heads out with Tonton in tow.

"Um, sure?" Iruka furrows a brow and pays for his ramen, following the Hokage's aide.

Ayame giggles. "Have fun on your date."

Iruka's cheeks redden at the comment, while Shizune's gets even redder.

They continue their walk in relative silence.

-x-

By this point it's already gotten dark outside while they had dinner so the setting sun paints a rather colourful landscape. The orange tint makes everything look and feel almost like a dream.

The two of them walk mostly in silence, which feels a little awkward at first but it oddly enough becomes comfortable in a matter of minutes. Just walking down the street, not burdening yourself with more than you can handle… It feels nice. Feels homely.

Reaching his home, Iruka invites Shizune to take a look at what he's managed to get done so far, what he did instead of actually taking proper care of himself.

"Pardon the intrusion." Shizune takes off her shoes while Tonton brushes her hooves off the welcome mat and they both enter.

When he leads her into the living room, she sees a stack of papers, handwritten notes, and a few books on medical ninjutsu and medical practices.

"This is… more than I gave you." She almost admires the sight of it.

Iruka shrugs. "I wanted to be thorough so I hunted down a few more books." He grabs one stack of papers in particular that has been stapled together and hands it to her. "This is how far I've gotten with the planning."

"May I?" Shizune motions to the sofa.

"Of course!" Iruka frees up some space and sits down.

Shizune sits with him while Tonton curls up under the table and begins flipping through the notes. "This looks very detailed and much easier to grasp than the book I gave you."

He chuckles. "Well, I might not be a medical ninja, but I am a teacher. Making information easily accessible is my job. Although it took me a while to understand it, myself, so I had to cram a lot."

"Hence the lack of sleep."

"Hence the lack of sleep, yes." He rubs the back of his neck. "I hope I haven't muddled it too much."

"No, not at all. I don't think I could have written it myself." She flips back to the first page and begins reading it more thoroughly. "Right." She mumbles to her. "And this part, and here." She keeps making mental notes of parts that could be improved or elaborated on, as she keeps reading without even realizing how much time has passed.

When she finally reaches the end, she gives a firm nod. "Right, this is-" She stops when she turns around only to find Iruka fast asleep on the couch. "Oh… I suppose I took longer than I thought." She nervously laughs.

She stands up and gently lies Iruka down so he's in a more comfortable position. She looks around the room for anything she can use to cover him with and spots a blanket conveniently draped over a chair along with some clothes. '... I wonder if that's actually his laundry? Should I go through it? It's rude, right?' She looks back to his sleeping figure and sighs. 'Better than nothing, I suppose. I'll apologize later.' She grabs the blanket and covers him with it, careful not to wake up although from her own experience that's not easy to do.

Deciding she's overstayed her welcome, she grabs Tonton and heads out the door. Giving one final glance to the diligent teacher, a smile crosses her face as the door locks behind her.

* * *

The following day, Tsunade returns from the Kage Summit which comes as a great relief to Shizune ready to share some of the workload with her and Shikamaru. She takes some documentation she'd set aside until the Hokage's return and places them on the desk in front of her. "So, this is the last of it. Just sign these and we should be good to go. I'll look over it tomorrow to file them away." She says with a more chipper voice than usual.

Tsunade looks up from the papers. "Tomorrow? You going somewhere, Shizune?"

"Ah, yes, I'm meeting Iruka at Ichiraku Ramen." She seems to be in a much more chipper mood than usual.

"Iruka?" Tsunade raises a brow.

"Yes, because of everything I told you about, he was kind enough to help out with the medical training program, so I'm offering what guidance I can until the medics can get back to work."

"Right. I see." Tsunade smirks. "Your dedication is admirable, Shizune."

"Oh, thank you! It's the least I could do to repay his hard work, after all." Shizune bows and excuses herself and heads out the office.

Tsunade shrugs. "Maybe I'm just looking too much into it." Now that the watchdog is out, she opens a drawer and digs for the secret bottle she has stored away, to help her through the workload. However, the moment she takes a single sip, she spits out its contents. "Water. I should've known..." She grumbles and uses it to water a plant instead.

-x-

Over the course of the next two weeks, Iruka and Shizune would regularly meet up after work at Ichiraku Ramen to talk shop over a bowl. Iruka would bring his notes and they'd discuss the program and training in great detail, adding potential new ideas either for the teachers to go over or for the medics once they resume work as originally intended.

Iruka goes over the coursework with her, how he'd summarized the book and made it to the point where the students would understand it more easily, and to an extent to the point where HE would understand it. He pretty much had to have a dictionary by his side while reading the book, even though it's a beginner book , it still has a lot of terminology.

Shizune continues to be impressed by the work he's done and how well he can present all of this information, and gives him some pointers on maybe how to incorporate some more material. Iruka is quick to catch on, but maybe that's because Shizune is good at explaining.

Iruka writes down some more things Shizune told him about. "Are you sure you don't want to become a teacher? I think you'd be really good at it."

Shizune chuckles. "That's funny, I was about to ask whether you might be interested in actually studying medical ninjutsu. You're grasping all of this really well."

"I guess it's more that we just work really well together."

They both smile shyly and focus on their ramen.

-x-

At some point, Shizune was also able to free her schedule enough where she'd be free during the day, which allows her to actually visit the Academy during class and personally observe the lessons.

She makes her way to the training grounds that Iruka requested access to for a more hands-on approach to teaching the new material. As she makes her way there, she can already hear the louds sounds of cheering and fighting. The lesson seems to be going well, at least.

Going past the trees, she enters the actual field where the training takes place. The class is sitting to the edge of the field while six kids, split into two three-man cells, are currently engaged in the exercise. Right away she can spot which ones are the play-medics as they're the ones at the back playing defensively.

Iruka is in the middle of it all, instructing the four kids who are in mock combat with each other. She decides to just observe how it all goes for now, not wanting to interrupt.

One of the girls, long light brown hair tied in a ponytail with a yellow ribbon, is struck by a special wooden blade they're using for this class, marked with seals that releases red pain on impact, causing her arm to be covered in it.

"Alright." Iruka calls out. "Now that you've been struck, Mibuna, you can't safely keep fighting. What do you do?"

The girl uses her non-red hand to reach into a pouch and slam a smokescreen ball into the ground. It's not as powerful as the real thing as there's still visibility but it gets the idea across, especially for this.

Mibuna ducks back while her partner, a boy with an overly tall spiky hairstyle, keeps both foes occupied. Her third partner, a boy with spiky hair kept at bay with a purple cap, comes to her aid and uses a special tag to get the red paint off of her. Since there's no actual medical ninjutsu at play yet, this is meant to simulate it.

One of the enemy team manages to duck past and head toward the medic and Mibuna but one wrong step sets off an explosive tag at her feet. Well, not precisely 'explosive' as it sets off what's essentially a glitter gun.

"Aw, man!" The boy tries to shake off the glitter off his clothes.

Iruka claps, signaling for the combat to stop. "An important part is to always cover for your allies! Because she had to leave Tsukune alone, Mibuna set up a trap in her escape that gives him a bit of cover, but also ensures that their medic Sansho has some cover and is safe from enemies." He smiles to both teams. "Excellent work, all of you."

Tsukune puffs out his chest. "Of course!"

Sansho finishes cleaning the pain off his teammate, who flashes him a smile. "Thanks."

At this point, Shizune walks out onto the field, clapping. "I agree."

"Ah, Shizune!" Iruka gives an even brighter smile when he sees her approach. "I wasn't expecting you. Kids, this is Shizune, one of the Leaf's best medics, second only to Lady Tsunade."

The kids stare at her in awe.

"Well, I'd say Sakura is up there, as well." She scratches her slightly reddened-from-embarrassment cheek, being put in such a spotlight. "So, what do you all think of medics?"

"They're really cool!"

"My uncle's one and he's cool!"

"I'm gonna be like Lady Hokage!"

A series of yells follow Shizune's question, with many of them sharing their excitement over medics. Stories have definitely reached their ears of the powerful abilities that saved lives during the War, and of course Tsunade is heavily admired by the kids, especially the younger girls.

"Alright, alright, simmer down." Iruka gets them all to calm down. "No talking over each other, got it?" He gives them a stern to behave before giving Shizune an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that."

"No need." She dismisses his worries. "I'm glad they're showing this much enthusiasm."

"So what brings you here, anyway?" He asks.

"I was actually thinking if I can help in some capacity since I have some free time." She places her arms behind her back. "If that's alright with you, of course."

"It is! I'm sure they'd be interested in seeing an actual medic at work."

"Very well." She surrounds her hand with a green glowing chakra and shows it to the students. "Now, would you all like a demonstration?"

"Yes!" The yall cry out in unison.

Shizune remains with them for the remainder of the day, giving them tips and even joining in their mock battles to give advice in real time, how best to work with a medic on their team and what the best course of action is in most situations.

The kids get into it with renewed energy and vigour, taking an even greater interest in it.

When class comes to an end, they all gather their things and make their way back to the Academy. Iruka and Shizune take the rear, making sure to keep all the kids within their line of sight.

"You've certainly sparked the flame under them, sensei." Shizune smiles.

"Oh, the flames were already sparked, I just helped them nourish it. I've done what I can for them so far, and starting tomorrow, the actual medics will take over." He gives a faint strained smile.

"Yes, you're right." She looks down to the ground with an equally saddened train of thought.

The medical ninja taking over means that their daily meets at Ichiraku Ramen would also come to an end, as their purpose was to discuss Iruka's training material over dinner. However now that that's no longer necessary… They both try to keep up a faint smile, both saddened that their meets would stop. They came to enjoy each other's company quite a bit, not just because they worked well together but because they also felt at ease and were able to wind off after a rough day at work.

Iruka stiffens his expression and inhales, gathering the courage to make the offer he wants to make. "So, I suppose we should meet over a bowl of ramen to make sure it's going as planned?" He asks without actually looking at her, trying to find something else to distract himself with.

She whips her head up. "Hm? Oh, of course! We can't rest just yet, can we?"

"This is for the children's future, after all." He nods sagely.

"It's important." She nods, as well.

In front of them, some of the girls have gathered together and are looking back their blushing sensei, giggling.

* * *

Once again, Shizune leaves a set of documents at Tsunade's desk and prepares to leave for the day.

"Another early day, Shizune?" Tsunade begins signing the papers in front of her.

"Yes. I'm meeting Iruka at Ichiraku today." She puts back scrolls and folders she'd taken off their shelves earlier, to clean up a bit before leaving.

"Still? Didn't the medics take over duties already?"

"Well, yes, but Iruka has a closer relationship with the students and so he has insight into how they're handling it." Shizune explains.

Tsunade raises a brow. "Uh huh. Alright."

"Is… something the matter, Lady Tsunade?" Shizune stops and turns around as she's about to leave through the door.

"No, no, of course not." The older woman chuckles. "Your dedication just continues to impress me."

"I take my leave, my Lady." Shizune bows and excuses herself, although Tsunade's expression leaves her worried.

Tsunade chuckles as the door closes. "She's a smart girl, she'll piece it together." She takes out her bottle and takes a swig of sake, breathing in deeply. "That's the stuff."

"Oink?" Tonton tilts her head inquisitively at Tsunade.

Walking through the corridor to the outside, Shizune plays over Tsunade's words and expression in her head. The older woman has always had a terrible poker face, which is why she spent so many years in debt. 'But what would prompt her reaction in relation to myself and Iruka?' She goes deep into thought. 'I mean, I do like him… Like…' She stops in her tracks and grips the hem of her shirt. 'Like, huh? He's smart, good with kids, I suppose he's good looking, too." She shakes those thoughts out of her mind. 'Oh snap out of it, Shizune. As if that's even a possibility… He wouldn't feel that. Would he?'

-x-

For the next couple of weeks, Iruka and Shizune continue to meet up after work to the point where it becomes a part of their daily schedules. Diligently, they meet up every day either at work or directly at Ichiraku. The original excuse was to talk about the medical training but conversation quickly switches to simple chatter, be it about work in general or their own hobbies and interests.

With each passing day, they grow more and more comfortable around each others' company and to some it's become painfully aware that these meetups stopped being about work a very long time ago. However, Tsunade and Ayame let events play out as they must and individually decide not to butt in. Even though the two women of very different positions are hardly even aware of each other, they both root for Iruka and Shizune even if those two are either too shy or too stubborn to come to the realization the two women came to weeks ago.

One particular evening, Shizune is the first to arrive and she seems happier than ever for some reason.

"Something good happened, Shizune?" Ayame places her bowl on the counter.

"Nothing in particular. Just waiting on Iruka." She's smiling widely.

"Still about the training program at the Academy?" The younger woman smirks.

Shizune gets flustered. "Well, yes, of course! That goes without saying." She tries to hide herself behind the ramen.

Ayame giggles and goes to the back to prepare.

Shizune hadn't really thought about or realized how much she was looking forward to being here, or what an important part of her day it had become. She kept repeating Tsunade and even Ayame's words in her head over and over until it finally hit her. They were sarcastic. But that couldn't be, right? She's just being professional, right? It's for the program.

She mulls it over while absentmindedly eating her ramen. Usually what they'd do is if one of them arrives earlier, they'd start eating and if they finish before the other, they'd order something lighter, and then head off on their own separate ways.

Now, however, she's nearly done with her ramen and Iruka is nowhere in sight. Her brain goes into panic mode.

"Wait, is he thinking the same as Lady Tsunade and Ayame? Does he think I'm being too into this, too clingy? What if he doesn't want to keep meeting up like this and wants me to keep my distance." She buries her face in her hands. "I ruined it before I even realized I had anything to ruin."

She turns around at the sound of every footstep, keeps trying to peek outside to see if he's coming. He's not. And he won't. She sighs and pays for the ramen. She was stupid for get her hopes up for nothing. This isn't the first time it's happened, and she should've actually remembered why she stopped trying or caring.

As she pushes the banners to leave, she bumps into Iruka.

"Shizune!" His face is red, he's sweating, and he's breathing like he ran a hundred marathons. "I made it... I'm sorry." He tries to catch his breath. "Principal… held us up." There's a slight look of dejection in his eyes when he sees her bowl empty and her money on the counter. "Were you… leaving?"

"Ah." She looks back inside where her eyes meet a grinning Ayame, then back to Iruka. "No, no, I just… thought I'd wait for you outside is all. That bowl was basically my lunch since I skipped it, so now I can have dinner, too."

"Oh, that's good to hear."

They walk back inside and take their seats and while waiting for their order, Iruka is trying to catch his breath.

"Did you… run all the way here from the Academy?"

"Meeting ran much longer than we thought. I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer than you already have. Was worried you'd leave."

"Worried?"

"Well, yeah. I wouldn't want to miss out on our meet up for the world." He gives a very tired smile and Shizune's heart skips a bit.

She gives out a yelp when the clacking of bowls being placed on the counter resounds.

The two eat their meal and talk as usual, but Shizune keeps sneaking more glances than usual. Their eyes meet occasionally but she can't figure out if it's for the same reason or if she's just overthinking it and making an awkward situation.

After they part ways, Shizune passes an onsen. She passes it every single day on her way home but she's barely actually used. Maybe it's time to actually pamper herself and relax. Nodding to herself, she walks in.

* * *

The next day, Iruka is the first one to arrive at Ichiraku Ramen, but before he can sit down, Ayame stops him.

She has a somewhat apologetic look. "Actually, I don't think Shizune will be coming today."

"She won't? How come?"

A part of Ayame wanted to smile. She can see the look on his face. He's not just asking a question, he's worried about the answer and maybe a little afraid.

"She actually came in this morning, thinking it was already evening. I think she had a fever or something and went home." There is a hint of worry in the young woman's voice, a concern she'd express to any of her regulars. Not just because they give her business, but because she gets close to everyone and genuinely cares for their well being.

"If she's sick, then I should go get her some-" He stops mid-sentence. "I don't actually know where she lives."

Ayame grins. "I know."

-x-

There's a knock on Shizune's door. She groans and very weakly gets off her couch. To her surprise, Iruka is standing outside, once again breathing heavily although not as much as yesterday.

"Iruka, why are you here?" Her voice lightly booms from her stuffed nose.

He holds up a bag of boxed ramen. "I heard you were sick."

She props herself against the opened door, smiling. "You really didn't have to."

"I told you, didn't I? I wouldn't miss our dinners for the world."

She makes way for him to enter. "I will just say, as a medic, I should advise against visiting a sick person."

He excuses himself and enters, making his way for the living room. "And as a teacher, I cannot leave behind someone in trouble."

He places the boxed ramen on the table where Shizune has clearly been bunkered down. Heavy blankets, tissue paper, light snacks. The TV is on, playing a soap opera of some kind, because many people forget the Naruto universe has functioning televisions.

"How did you even get sick? And how often do you medical ninja actually get sick? It seems to be a recurring thing."

Shizune groans. "I went to an onsen yesterday, and I think I stayed in for too long. Woke up today feeling feverish."

"I'd think one of your knowledge wouldn't have made that mistake." He chuckles.

"I knooow. But it was so relaxing." She sighs and sits down on the ground next to him and snuggles with her blanket, desperately trying to hide her smile. "Thank you."

"I got really worried at first, you know. When Ayame said you wouldn't be coming."

"About what?" She hugs her knees through the blanket.

"That you'd had second thoughts and didn't want to meet anymore. That maybe I'd come off as too annoying and chased you away."

She giggles. "Funny, I had the same thought yesterday. That's actually why I started leaving Ichiraku, 'cause I thought you didn't want to do it anymore and I was alone in my feeling." The fever gets her talking. She realizes she might have already babbled too much and turns her head in embarrassment.

"You… feelings?"

"It's nothing, I'm just being overly emotional. This fever is really getting to me, you know?" She turns around and tries to play it off as a joke.

Iruka leans over to kiss her.

Her breath stops and her eyes bulge out from surprise, but she calms herself and places a hand on his cheek, returning the kiss.

When they break off, she starts breathing again, her heart racing. And so is his.

"I… sorry. I actually had a whole thing prepared, I wanted to ask first to see how you feel about everything. I was actually going to do it today, but then found out you were sick and I wasn't sure if it's a good time-"

Shizune cuts him off by leaning to him and kissing him again. "It's absolutely a good time." She smiles warmly.

Iruka's smile grows wider and wider. He takes her hand in his and pulls her closer into a hug. He feels like he should say something, especially when it happened as suddenly as it did. However, the only thing he can is laugh from joy, holding Shizune as closely as he can.

She doesn't mind at all being in his embrace. In fact, she hasn't felt this comfortable in a long time.

"When you get better, let's go out on a date. A date date."

She looks up to him. "That'd be nice."

The two lean in for another kiss. "You know," She gives him a light peck on the lips. "as a doctor," Another peck. "I really have to advise against this."

"Then I guess I'm in my rebellious stage."

The two laugh and hold each other close.

* * *

The next day, Iruka is at Shizune's place again. He's wrapped in an extra blanket, box of tissues by his side, and he's sniffing and sneezing like there's no tomorrow.

Shizune hands him his boxed ramen. "I told you."

"You also kept me from leaving" He chuckles as she turns away embarrassed. He reaches under her blanket and holds her hand. "Guess that date will have to wait."

She looks to him with a smile. "I'd say this counts."

* * *

**FIN**

_(Get it? Because "fin" is French of "end" and "iruka" means "dolphin" and they have fins. Okay, I'll stop.)_


	42. Academy Days I - Uzumaki

**ACADEMY DAYS I - UZUMAKI**

* * *

**Uzumaki clan compound**

* * *

The Uzumaki district has been coming along well since the clan settled in. It’s still not quite home, and the adjustment period is taking some time, but they’re all getting there.

The older Uzumaki, who actually remember the Hidden Whirlpool, have taken to slightly re-decorating by adding familiar elements from the destroyed village. Naruto left Awaji to handle that as he knows better than most how and what to do in that regard.

Meanwhile, Naruto is overseeing another addition to the district. Toward the edge of the compound is an area that’s been designated as a park of sorts; a bit of greenery to add some freshness to the place. One particular part of it had a small pond built at the request of clan leader Naruto Uzumaki. 

It’s a tranquil place that washes over you with a peaceful aura and makes your worries seemingly go away. In truth, that’s because the pond is connected to Mount Myoboku and so has some natural energy seeping through it. Statues of toads from Mt. Myoboku are arranged around the pond to truly cement the feeling.

Karin looks over the scene, not looking as peaceful as some others. “Not gonna lie, the frog statues kind of freak me out.”

“Well, first of all, they’re toads.” Naruto corrects her.

“I don’t actually care.” She interjects.

“Second of all, they’re needed to properly channel the natural energy so it doesn’t overflow. Least that’s what Pa said. Besides, I think they look nice! You just have to ignore they’re toads who failed their training so were turned to stone.” He shrugs and takes a step closer to the pond.

Karin stares for a few brief moments before whipping her head. “WHAT?!”

At this point, another large statue is carried through, going right past Karin. The new information causes her to jump back in surprise. These things suddenly freak her out even more.

The man carrying this new statue peeks his head from the side to look at her. This thing is easily twice his size but Jugo manages to hold it like it’s nothing, although only the top of his ginger hair can be seen when he tries to look around the petrified toad.

“It’s nothing to get freaked out about, Karin.” Jugo states in his usual calm voice.

“Easy for you to say, you’ve always been weird!” Karin protests in her usual over-the-top demeanor.

Another voice rings from Jugo’s general direction. “What a rude, child. Are you truly certain about this one, Naruto?” Fukasaku hops from where he was on Jugo’s shoulder onto the head of the statue.

Naruto chuckles. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

The large man goes to gently place the final statue around the pond, completing the decor. All three of them take a step back to admire the layout, proud of their work.

Karin, however, looks disgusted. “Those… are all…”

Fukasaku sighs. “Yes, we went over this. Keep up, girlie. This is how we honour those who’ve tried to walk the path of the sage.”

Naruto rubs the back of his head. “I almost turned into a statue a few times.”

Jugo nods. “Same.”

Karin looks between all of them with a contorted expression. “You’re all weird.”

Fukasaku pats Jugo on the calf, that being the highest he can reach. “As long as you keep meditating here, you’ll be good to go.”

Jugo turns to him and bows deeply. “Thank you, Elder. If it weren’t for your guidance, I don’t know where I’d currently be.”

“Your power is still something completely alien to me, but you’ve definitely gotten a grasp of it. If something happens, you can turn to this one.” The toad motions to Naruto. “He’s an oddball but he’s reliable, and he should have a good grasp on the sage arts.”

“So I’ve come to realize.” Jugo chuckles.

Naruto grumbles. “Did you have to put it like that?”

“Even I know you’re an oddball.” Karin adds.

Fukasaku claps his hands together to form a hand sign. “Right, with the pond now ready and the Leaf having a direct link to Mt. Myoboku, I can take my leave.”

Karin looks at Naruto and nudges him with an elbow.

“Ow, what was that for?” He protests.

She motions to the toad with her head, waiting for him to get the hint. “Nothing you wanna ask the toad?”

It takes a moment for Naruto to collect his thoughts. “Oh, right!” Naruto interrupts before the elder goes. “I actually wanted to ask you something else, about summoning. Since the Uzumaki clan is still new and getting to its feet, would you let, like, other Uzumaki to sign the contract?”

Fukasaku scratches his chin. “A clan-bound pact, huh? It’s definitely not unheard of, but you have to realize, Naruto, we toads are a strong-willed bunch. If you deem someone fit to sign a contract with us, they can, but that doesn’t mean we’ll accept. They still have to prove themselves, just as you did, and Minato and Jiraiya before you.”

“Yeah, I get that. I don’t expect you to just give your power to anyone. Just that we could use all the help we can.”

“To begin with, the Uzumaki clan isn’t actually that big.” Karin explains. “We don’t have the full statistics yet, but more than half aren’t actually Uzumaki but people who married one, and of the ones who _are_ Uzumaki, most of us either aren’t fighters or have been inactive for decades. We’re considered a shinobi clan, but truthfully we’re just barely.”

Fukasaku nods. “I understand and we will offer what aid we can. However, we still have our own to look out for. Those of us who form summoning contracts have our own responsibilities, as well, and that involves not allowing the unworthy to wield our power.” He begins hopping towards the pond. “I’m sure your clan will be fine, though, so long as you have faith in them.” Reaching the small body of water, he jumps in and disappears from sight.

Naruto scratches his head. “Guess we gotta start preparing what shinobi we got, huh?”

“Yeah, I’ll leave that to you. Ninja work isn’t my specialty.” Karin shrugs.

Jugo cocks his head. “It’s not?”

“Have you actually seen me use any jutsu?” She raises a brow. “I was taught the basics; enough to stay alive but that’s it. My abilities meant I stay back and don’t get in harm’s way, so I didn’t need any more than that.”

“And are you fine with that?” Naruto asks.

“Yeah, well, it’s not like I-” Karin stops herself. “Wait, why am I sharing this with you; it’s none of your business.” She huffs and spins around on her feet to get back further in the Uzumaki district. “Acting like psychoanalysts…”

Naruto and Jugo share a confused look and simply shrug, walking behind her.

Jugo looks around at the sight before him; the people going about their day, trying to figure out their new life, the buildings in the process of redecoration. “Are you sure it’s fine for me to stay here, though? I’m not an Uzumaki, so I’m not sure how much I belong.”

Naruto shrugs. “You heard Karin, most folk here ain’t Uzumaki, anyway.”

“But they’re married to Uzumaki. There’s a difference.” Jugo clarifies.

“Yeah. Maybe. But you gotta stick close to a source of natural energy so it’s better for everyone if you’re nearby. I don’t plant to be that kind of strict clan leader, y’know?” Naruto steps a bit to the side to get closer to Jugo and whispers. “Besides, I think Karin feels better with you around, so you’re also kinda doing us a favour.”

The much taller man raises a brow. “Really? It’s not like we were ever particularly close or anything.”

Naruto shrugs. “But now you’re the closest thing she’s got to a friend. She knows you’re a good person”

Walking some paces in front of them, Karin spins around to glare. “What’re you two talking about?”

They both become flustered, with Naruto giving a nervous laugh. “Oh, just sage stuff. Talkin’ ‘bout toads, y’know? Oh, by the way, what’s next on the schedule?”

She squints her eyes even further, as if trying to burn a hole through them, before continuing to walk forward. “You have a meeting with the Senju clan’s leader, Fusuma Senju, at 2 o’clock.”

“Right, I forgot… Was too busy with Kotori starting the Academy...”

“I didn’t see the kids, actually. Are they okay?” Jugo asks.

Naruto nods. “Yeah, they’re fine. Today’s their first day in the Academy. We can all meet up when they get back, I’m sure they’d be happy to see you.”

“That’d be nice.” Jugo smiles in response. “I hope they’re doing okay.”

  
  


**Hidden Leaf Academy**

“Rise.”

A young boy brings the class’ attention to the opening classroom door, from which their teacher enters. Everyone in class stands up to greet her.

“Bow.”

The same boy instructs, his long dark hair falling in front of his face as he does the motion.

“Sit.”

They all take their designated seats and prepare to begin class.

Tenten smiles at her class, and the diligence of the class representative. She looks to the boy, meeting a very familiar pair of pale eyes. “Thank you, Jiriki.” She then turns to address everyone in class. “Now then! I’m sure many of you have heard of changes going around the Hidden Leaf, and you’re all probably curious about it. Means a lot of new students coming to the Academy and that includes our class! We have three new students who’ll be joining us starting today, so I’d like you all to get along and welcome them.” She then turns to the door. “Come and introduce yourself.” 

On cue, three people enter the class and stand next to their teacher, in front of the class.

The girl is first to speak. “I’m Kotori Uzumaki!” She gives an enthusiastic wave. “Let’s all get along!”

“My name is Yokumaru Kigatsu, it’s nice to meet you all.” He gives a light bow.

“Shoto Teshin.” He gives his traditional bow and when he raises, he locks eyes with the Hyuga boy who instructed the class earlier.

Some sparks fly. There seems to be some recognition in Jiriki Hyuga’s eyes as he gives a light smirk. He’s definitely aware of the Teshin clan and their history. Shoto already has a target he needs to test. This is his chance to prove himself against the Hyuga clan. Hopefully this one doesn’t disappoint.

“I’m sure you all have a lot of questions, but let’s keep them for later!” Tenten motions to an empty desk at the end of the class. “You three can take that desk.”

The kids do as told, receiving a lot of curious looks and even some already asking questions and introducing themselves, but are quickly shushed by their sensei.

“Now, since there’re some changes in the Hidden Leaf, today’s homeroom will be about those very changes. Let’s find out about the Uzumaki clan!” Tenten tries to get them excited for the subject with some exaggerated motions. Nowhere near the level of her own sensei, but there’s definitely a resemblance.

Some gazes are immediately drawn to Kotori, who shrinks in her seat, not really knowing how to react. To begin with, that really isn’t her clan, per se. She has no connection to the Uzumaki of old or their history, so this will be new information even to her.

What follows is a brief history lesson into the Land of Whirlpools and the Hidden Whirlpool Village. Its formation, its clans, their rise to fame, their downfall. Much of it is cliffnoted due to time restraints, but the class listen with mixed interest. Some of the kids that are visibly from shinobi clan listen a bit more intently. It’s possible they’ve been told things back home and are taking a professional interest in the subject.

As soon as class ends, however, all hell breaks loose. The three newcomers are swarmed with questions and requests by most of their new classmates. Many of it mundane, such as where they came from, what they like, what their hobbies are. Some of it more focused, such as asking about what training they’ve received, what their abilities are.

“So what’s it like, having your clan back together?” One girl asks Kotori.

“Oh, that’s…” Kotori becomes flustered, unsure how to answer. “That’s not… I dunno.” She stumbled over her words. There’s a whole lot of information to give and she’s not certain how to give it.

‘Your clan’, they say. They’re all so curious about the Uzumaki clan and keep asking her about it but when it comes right down to it, she’s one in name only. But that name comes from Naruto Uzumaki- village hero and clan leader. If she says something to put him in a bad light...

They have some trouble keeping up with everyone, and they’ve already forgotten most of the names that were thrown their way along with the questions. They’re trying to figure out how to diffuse the situation and get some breathing room, until one voice in particular booms throughout the room.

“Alright, that’s enough!”

Everyone turns to a young boy standing on his desk, next to the Hyuga boy. This one has short brown hair with a single tuft of lighter brown hair above his forehead.

“What’re you guys in a rush for?!” He continues to speak in a raised voice even though he no longer needs to, with everyone else having quieted down. “We have years to get to know each other!”

Some of the kids sigh. “Here he goes again…”

The boy hops over from his own desk, to the one next to his, so he can be just in front of Kotori. “I’m Kashiwama Senju, pride and heir to the Senju clan!” He proudly pounds his chest. “Kotori Uzumaki, let’s get married!”

Dead silence.

Everyone stares in disbelief at his far too sudden proposal.

The first to react is the third boy sat next to Jiriki Hyuga and the one who just introduced himself as Kashiwama Senju. A young boy of short black hair and dark eyes who just faceplams. “You idiot… What did you just say about rushing?”

Jiriki only shakes his head.

“Umm… no thanks?” Kotori blinks.

Kashiwama slumps his shoulders. “Oh. Then tomorrow it is!” He rights himself back up and jumps down. “I’ll win you over, I swear it!” He gives a thumbs up to the increasingly confused audience.

“Sorry about him…” The third boy from Jiriki and Kashiwama’s desk raises from his seat. “I’m Genzai Sarutobi, unfortunately his best friend. Just… try to endure him? He gets better.”

“Right…” Kotori is still very visibly confused by the encounter.

The remainder of the day goes fairly normal, at least compared to what happened before. The day was spent mostly indoors and on theory, so they didn’t quite get the chance to show off their skills just yet, but Kotori keeps an eye out for the Senju boy and any other possible shenanigans, although he spent the day oddly normal as if he hadn’t said something so outrageous.

When the first day of school ends, they all part ways and head home.

“Don’t get married on your way home.” Shoto teases.

Kotori groans in annoyance. “Don’t you start, too.”

Yokumaru chuckles. “Today was… fun, all things considered. It’s nice. Being in a school.” He gives a light smile.

“Sure, ruin my fun by saying something like that.” Shoto shakes his head, but his smile betrays that he’s only joking. “But you’re right. Proper schooling was never in the plan for me; just training to be a master in our dojo.”

“And we couldn’t really afford it. Was only a pipe dream...”

Kotori grins and wraps her arms around both the boys’ shoulders. “And now we get to do it together! Kinda makes me wonder how everyone back in the Cloud is doing, though…”

“Yeah, I guess studying in an Academy isn’t new for you, huh?” Yokumaru notes.

Kotori nods in response. “Yup. But that was only for 2 months. We’re gonna be here a lot longer than that.”

“And some of us might graduate already engaged.” Shoto can’t contain the remark.

Kotori elbows him in the sides and begins walking toward the Uzumaki district. “See you tomorrow!”

“See you.”

“Night!”

**Naruto Uzumaki’s residence**

Making her way back to her new home, walking through the streets of the Uzumaki compound and finding it odd just how many people recognize and greet her, Kotori swings open the front door and calls out. “I’m home!”

“We’re in the living room.” Hinata responds.

She takes off her shoes and places them to the side of the entryway before making her way inside to her adopted mother. Inside, she finds both Naruto and Hinata sat at the table along with a woman she’d never seen before- young, although still visibly older than her adopted parents. Long hair tied in a ponytail, with a streak of white in her brown hair.

The stranger smiles. “You must be Kotori. How are you, dear?”

“Um, fine?” She sounds a bit uncertain how to answer this person. Is it someone she’s met but forgot? She’s met a lot of people since coming here and it’s hard to keep track of everyone. She’s going through every face and name, to try and place them to this woman but is coming up short.

The woman laughs. “I’m sorry, I should introduce myself. Fusuma Senju, leader of the Senju clan. We’ve not met.”

“Ah. Kotori Uzumaki, it’s nice to meet you.” She bows.

Hinata goes over to take Kotori’s jacket off and help her get comfortable. “How was your first day?”

“It was good! Kinda boring, though, it was mostly theory.”

“I agree on the boring part.” Naruto laughs.

“My son didn’t do anything weird, did he?” Fusuma asks.

Kotori cocks her head. “Your son?”

“If you’re in Tenten’s class then he should be your classmate. Kashiwama. I feel like he’s always doing something weird, that boy.” She sighs.

“Oh.” He did actually say he’s the heir to the Senju, so if this woman is the leader… Makes sense. “Um… he asked me to marry him.”

Naruto laughs after a brief pause of the information to sink in. “Already popular at school, huh?”

“Well…” Fusuma looks stunned. “I didn’t expect _that_ …” She sighs and stands up from her seat. “I guess he needs a talking-to.”

Kotori gets flustered. “Ah, no, it’s not that bad. You don’t need to get mad at him.”

“Well aren’t you sweet.” Fusuma pats Kotori on the head. “You don’t have to worry about him. I’m sorry if I overstayed my welcome, Naruto, Hinata.”

“No, it’s quite alright.” Hinata smiles.

“Yeah, if anything I should be thanking you.” Naruto rubs the back of his head. “This whole clan thing is still so new to me… Every bit of help is good.”

“You’re doing great, don’t worry. Besides, the Senju and the Uzumaki have a longstanding history. It’s only proper that we reignite it, since both our clans aren’t really what they used to be.”

With that, she makes her way to the front door to leave. The Uzumaki send her off with their best wishes.

When they close the door, Naruto lets out a snicker he’d been holding for a while. “So. Marriage? Should I be arranging something?”

Kotori just playfully smacks him on the leg. “Not funny.”

“Hey, I'm the clan leader now. I can probably set things in motion, y’know?”

**Hidden Leaf Academy**

  
  


The next day, Kashiwama Senju jumps out in front of Kotori pretty much as soon as she enters school grounds.

“Have you thought about it?!” He gives a far too cheery grin.

“... Still no.” She answers after a brief pause of trying to wrap her head around his sudden appearance.

“Oh.” He nods firmly and turns around. “Alright!” With that, he promptly turns around and walks inside.

Kotori just raises a brow and waits for a bit before going in herself. 

-x-

The next day, the same scenario plays out.

And the day after.

And the day after that.

With each time, Kotori grows slightly more frustrated, her usual cheery persona loosening, until one day...

-x-

“Okay, why are you so persistent?!” Kotori finally snaps, probably being more patient than she should’ve been. “No, actually, you’re not even persistent! You ask once and then stop! What’s up with that?”

Kashiwama looks at her rather calmly as she vents and waits a few moments for her to catch her breath before replying. “Well, it makes sense, doesn’t? The Uzumaki and the Senju! We’re both heirs who’ll bring our clans to their former greatness! That’s my dream. We’re a match of heaven and earth! It’s both our duties to restore our clans to greatness!”

“... What?” She squints her eyes in disbelief. “Is that it?”

“Well... yeah. We’re perfect for each other!” He proclaims.

“You don’t even know me.” She states the fairly obvious. “But you’re already proposing just because of that? Shouldn’t you see if we like each other first or something?”

“Relationships start somewhere, right?” He cocks his head as if not understand where he went wrong. “That’s our common ground; our starting point. Then you build on that, simple as that.”

“That’s… I mean, sure, maybe?” She lowers head and begins walking past him. “But I’m not even an Uzumaki, you’re wasting your dreams.” She lets out in more of a whisper but it’s still more than audible.

“...” Kashiwama simply observes as Kotori goes inside, not saying anything more. He waits for a bit before going in himself.

The remainder of the day, Kotori tries to keep up her demeanor but at least to those who know her better, she doesn’t have the usual energy she does. She’s bothered by something, but she’s the type to try and put on airs for the sake of others. Asking her would only push her away, rather than get her to open up. At the very least, neither Yokumaru nor Shoto are the ones to do it, that much they know.

After final class, Shoto and Yokumaru instead catch up with another possible lead- Kashiwama. They catch up with the young Senju, with Shoto taking the lead in confronting him.

“Okay, what did you say to her?”

“Sorry?” Kashiwama tilts his head in confusion.

“Kotori. She’s off. Did you say something?”

“Same as always! I told her we’re meant to be!” He puffs out his chest.

“That’s never bothered her until now…” Yokumaru says in an uncertain voice. To begin with, pinning the blame on Kashiwama didn’t sit right with him; he doesn’t seem at all like the type who’d put Kotori down.

“Well, something bothered her! And this guy bothers her every day!” Shoto accuses.

“Hey, our destinies are intertwined!” Kashiwama looks off wistfully into the sunset. “She’s the one I’ve been waiting for my whole life.”

“We’re, like, 8, dude. We’ve barely had a life.”

“If she’s not feeling well, then I need to check up on her!” Kashiwama makes a turn in the opposite direction, where the Uzumaki clan compound is located.

Shoto stands in his way. “You’re doing nothing. We know her better than you and we know how to get to her. Your just… sit back.”

Kashiwama nods sagely. “You’re right. You’re totally right. We’re not at that stage in our relationship.”

“You don’t have a relationship…” Shoto’s words fall on deaf ears.

“I’ll leave it to your expertise, then!” Kashiwama turns to head home.

Yokumaru waits until he’s out of earshot. “It’s like he lives in his own world…”

“Yeah. Should we tell Naruto-shisho and Hinata-shisho to check up on her?” Shoto expresses concern; not often seen in the boy.

“I think they’ll have it covered better than us. Kotori’s probably going through a lot right now; even more than us.”

“You’re probably right. Just hope she’s okay. It’s odd not being together all the time…” From his peripheral vision, Shoto sees Yokumaru trying to suppress a wide smile, giving him a pretty goofy expression. “Don’t even think about it!” He dismisses his friend, beginning to walk away.

Before parting ways, Yokumaru pats Shoto on the shoulder. “See you tomorrow.”

**Naruto Uzumaki’s residence**

Upon returning home, Kotori’s soured demeanor didn’t go unnoticed. At least to Hinata. Naruto didn’t notice a thing, but with a few suggestive nudges and head tilts, he finally picked up what she was trying to tell him.

They do wait until after dinner to ask, somewhat waiting to see if she’ll bring up what’s bothering her. She does not, and when done eating excuses herself to go to her room.

“Honey?” Hinata stands up to follow her.

Kotori stops and turns around slightly “Yeah?”

Hinata kneels down to be eye level with her and brushes her hair. “Did something happen?”

“What, no?” She tries her best to put on a cheerful face. “Why’d you think that?”

Naruto walks over, as well, standing behind Hinata. “Hey, you remember back in the Hidden Cloud? You had a lot on your plate, a lot of stuff you were thinking about.” He kneels down as well. “We promised to talk to each other, right? I hope you don’t have to fall off a cliff this time.” He chuckles.

Kotori grips the hem of her shirt. “No… it’s just…”

Hinata tries to sooth her. “If you really don’t want to, you don’t have to, alright? Anything you’re feeling, we’ll support you no matter what, when you’re ready.”

Kotori lowers her head, allowing her bangs to cover most of her face. She breathes in heavily, trying to gather thoughts. Naruto’s right. She tried to hide her feelings before and learned she shouldn’t do that, that she doesn’t need to. She let herself be afraid before and yet she’s doing it again.

Her eyes involuntarily begin to tear up. “I just… don’t know how to do it…”

Naruto and Hinata share a confused look. “Do what?”

“Be a clan kid. Everyone talks about the Uzumaki and how great they were and how great it is they’re back, and everyone keeps looking at me and asking me about it, but… I don’t know! I don’t know about any of that. I’m not even an Uzumaki, I’m from this other clan I know nothing about!” She lets it all out in one breath.

Naruto lunges forward to pull her into a tight hug that she immediately returns. Hinata wraps her arms around both of them.

“It’s fine.” Naruto reassures her gently.

“Kashiwama said… we should restore our clans, that I’m an heir because you're the leader, but I’m not from the clan! I’m not a part of its history or anything, I don’t know any of these jutsu Tenten-sensei told us about…”

“Hey, listen.” Naruto pulls away slightly to look her in the eyes. He cups her face with both hands, brushing away her tears with his thumbs. “You don’t have to. I don’t know about this stuff, either, and I don’t know the Uzumaki jutsu. But I have a lot of people to help me through it, y’know? I’m not in this alone, and neither are you.”

Hinata leans over to kiss her on the forehead. “As for being heir- you don’t have to be, if you don’t want it. If someone else can do a better job, they can do it instead; that’s fine. No one will hold it against you. Lady Fusuma did say Kashiwama can be a bit stubborn. You can tell him that his wishes are his own. You don’t have to be ashamed for wanting to walk your own path.”

Kotori nods stiffly, and both her parents pull her in for another hug.

“Don’t ever feel pressured into doing something you don’t want to, or to be someone you’re not. No matter who’s pressuring.” Naruto gives her some words of wisdom.

That night, Kotori goes to bed a bit calmer than she was before and a bit more certain as to who she is.

**Hidden Leaf Academy**

  
  


The next day, Kotori arrives a bit later than usual. Shoto and Yokumaru grew concerned and even contemplated ditching class to go look for her at the Uzumaki compound, but she does eventually arrive, minutes before class is set to start.

She makes a bee-line for Kashiwama’s desk, earning a surprised look from him and his two desk buddies, Jiriki and Genzai.

“I’m not an Uzumaki.” She states bluntly, looking him directly in the eyes. “Sure, I was adopted and I got the name ‘cause of dad, but I don’t know the first thing about the clan. Their history, their jutsu, their greatness… As long as I carry the name, I won’t bring it any shame, but I’m not the person you or anyone else thinks I am. I wanna be my own shinobi and make friends as myself.”

  
Kashiwama smiles and stands up, extending a hand. “It’s very nice to meet you. I’m Kashiwama Senju.”

She blinks in confusion, as does everyone else in class. As before, he does and says the most random things. Although it might not be as random as it seems. Did he see before? The doubt she was feeling? That she wasn’t certain about her place in the village? No, he couldn’t possibly have seen through her, especially on the first day of school. There’s no way.

She shakes her head, deciding to just go along with his odd behaviour. “Kotori Uzumaki. Let’s be friends.”

“Let’s.” He grins in response.

“Rise.” Jiriki Hyuga’s voice breaks the tension, alerting everyone to the presence of Tenten-sensei.

Kotori goes to take her designated spot with Yokumaru and Shoto, who give her a puzzled look to which she just responds with a genuine grin. Whatever happened, seems like she’s all fine now.

**Uzumaki clan compound**

  
  


One particularly uneventful day, Naruto makes his rounds around the Uzumaki compound, meeting with people, speaking to them, making sure they’ve faring well and adjusting. By this point, it’s been just over a week. The feeling hasn’t entirely sunken in yet, and he shudders at the thought of not having people like Awaji or Karin by his side.

Speaking of whom, Karin is making these rounds with him. He never asked her, but she said she wanted so who’s he to deny her that?

“How’s it feel to be part of a clan now?” He asks, trying to make some small talk.

“It’s… somewhat familiar. Honestly, the work I do isn’t all that different from what I had to do for Orocihmaru, just...” She trails off, trying to find the right words.

“Without the law-breaking?” He offers a possible ending to the sentence.

Karin laughs. “Yeah, that’s part of it. I never felt this at ease. I wasn’t sure about it at first. Thought it might be some kind of trick on the Hokage’s side, but… even if it is, I don’t think I’d mind.” She smiles.

Naruto walks with his fingers intertwined behind his head, orange cloak billowing behind him. “I’m glad. I wanted to make sure everyone’s doing good, and that includes you, cousin. Figure a lot of people can use the peace and quiet after everything we’ve been through.”

Karin grimaces. “Still weird when you call me ‘cousin’, though.”

“Boss!” A voice calls out to them, a young shinobi from the clan running toward them. “You have guests. Doctor Sakura Haruno and… Sasuke Uchiha?” The man clearly knows the first person well, although the second one he doesn’t seem too familiar with.

“Wait, seriously?” Naruto sounds and looks ready to pounce with joy, hearing of his return.

Karin, on the other hand, completely freezes in place. Her eyes widen, her heartbeat intensifies. She looks like a deer in headlights, if this world had headlights. “I- I think I sh… should go.” She has to fight to get the words and stiffly begins walking, but it’s too late.

As advertised, Sakura and Sasuke arrive from behind the corner, making their way to Naruto and Karin.

Sakura waves to them enthusiastically. “Hey! You’ve become a hard man to get ahold of these days, you know?”

Karin does not turn to look at them.

Naruto laughs. “Yeah, sorry about that…”

“Looks like you’re doing well for yourself.” Sasuke very lightly curls his lips into a smile.

On hearing his voice, Karin tenses. Sasuke and Sakura can’t really see it, but Naruto can. She’s trembling, her hands are shaking.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Naruto asks with concern.

“Is that… Karin?” Sasuke gets a better look at the woman with his teammate. She looked similar and he’d heard she’s officially part of the Uzumaki clan, but he wasn’t certain this is actually her. Sasuke begins walking over to her, not realizing what she’s currently going through. “I was actually to see you, too.” When he gets closer, he reaches over to her.

“Hey, Sasuke, I don’t think-”

Before Naruto can finish, Karin whips around and smacks Sasuke’s hand away. “ **NO!** ” She shrieks and steps back with absolute terror in her eyes. “Do-don’t come near me.” Her following words come out as barely a whisper.

She looks at his eyes and she only sees the twister man who thought nothing of her life. She looks at his hand and she only sees the Chidori that struck through her chest.

“Karin?” Sakura rushes over to her, having become somewhat close to the woman while she served her sentence at the Leaf hospital. Friends might be too strong a word but it’s still more than enough for Sakura to be concerned.

“Wait,” Sasuke tries to explain himself, “I promise I’m not-”

Karin steps back again and trips over her own feet, falling backward.

Naruto catches her holding onto her tightly and putting himself in front of her, orange cloak whirling in front of Sasuke. “Let’s talk later.” He Flickers away, taking Karin with him.

Naruto lands on a nearby rooftop and gently lets Karin sit on the ground, still holding onto her trembling body.

“It’s fine. You’re fine, alright. I’m here.” He does his best to soothe her but she still looks like a frightened child, wrapping her arms over her chest in comfort.

He figures all he can do for now is sit with her. Just as a precaution, he takes a moment to concentrate to gather natural energy around him. He kneels down in front of her, as long as she needs to gather herself.

It takes a few moments, but she finally mutters. “Sorry. Thanks.” Two simple words which is all she can muster right now.

“I should be sorry. I never knew how you felt.” His voice comes out hoarse, like he hadn’t drank water in a long time. Seeing someone in such a state of shock took the energy out of him.

Karin shakes her head. “Couldn’t have.” She attempts to stand up despite her legs being wobbly, but with the help of Naruto and the wall behind her, she manages.

“You don’t have to push yourself. Just… take your time, okay?”

“I’m… I’m fine. Okay? I’m fine. I just… I need to get away.” She steps away, breaking away from him and only now realizing they’re on a roof. She begins getting ready to get herself down.

“Hey, I’m serious. You have a family now.”

Karin offers a very light smile and pats him on the chest. “I know. I know. Thanks,... cousin.” And she Flickers away, although she’s still well within his sensory range. If there’s anything wrong with her, he’ll sense it.

-x-

Sasuke stays in place, dumbfounded at what just happened.

Sakura looks just as perplexed. “I… I never knew she felt so strongly. We’ve even talked about it and yet...”

“No, that’s normal. I was a fool for thinking she wouldn’t react like that.” Sasuke lowers his head. “Guess I have more work to do than I originally thought.”

“I’ll… talk to her. I’m sure she just needs some time to cope with everything.” Sakura tries to reassure him.

“You don’t have to do anything on my behalf.” He turns his head to look at her. “Actually, you have every right to react like she did.”

“I probably do, but I had more of a chance than she did to come to terms with everything. She felt strongly for you and all of that was shattered, a part of her still doesn’t know what to do with all of her emotions.”

“And what about your emotions? How do you feel after… well, everything.”

Sakura looks up in the direction she saw Naruto take Karin away, still unsure how exactly she can offer help. “Honestly? I had to let my feelings mellow out. I realized what an obsession you were and how fruitless it all was.” She turns to look him in the eyes, or rather eye as his left one is hidden by his bangs. “If I still have feelings for you, they’ll have to be rekindled. I’m done chasing.”

“I see.”

-x-

Karin spends some time absentmindedly walking through the streets. Some of the resident Uzumaki call out and greet her but she doesn’t hear them at all.

She’s desperately trying to put her mind at ease but the walk isn’t helping.

Damnit.

She inadvertently finds herself by the creepy frog statues they put up a week ago. Sorry, _toad_ statues. She stares at them for several moments before noticing there’s actually a person sitting in front of them. Jugo is meditating cross-legged, covered in small birds. He always had a way of attracting small animals to him.

He opens his eyes when Karin finally acknowledges his presence. She’s not sure if it was a coincidence or if he somehow knew she hadn’t noticed him until now.

“You met him.” He states bluntly.

Karin furrows her brow. “Uh, yeah. You know he’s here?”

“I sensed him earlier, yes.”

“And… you’re not going to him?” She steps closer to the pond, giving the statues a wide berth.

“I will eventually. I need to meditate.” He closes his eyes again.

“Was a time you’d go to him right away.”

“I could say the same for you. I once thought my salvation lied in him, but I came to realize that’s not the case. I don’t need someone else to keep me in control; I can do that myself just fine.”

She gives a light laugh. “Sounds pretty profound.” She looks on for a moment longer, watching him peacefully sit among the greenery of the park. “Do you… mind if I sit with you?” She asks shyly.

“Of course not.” Jugo gives a light smile.

He doesn’t look, but he feels Karin take a seat next to him to hopefully find a portion of the peace he has.

-x-

Naruto lands next to Sasuke and Sakura, looking a bit more serious than before. “Not really how I thought this meeting would go, honestly.”

“Is she going to be alright?” Sakura expresses concern.

“Yeah.” Naruto looks back to where he senses Karin’s chakra. “She’s with a friend now. I’ll check up on her later.”  
  
“Sorry.” Sasuke lowers his head. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”

“You’re fine.” Naruto pats him on the shoulder. “And hopefully she’ll be fine, too. We can only wait. Assuming… you’ll actually be around to wait?” He asks, somewhat hopefully.

“Hn. Yeah, I’m returning to the Hidden Leaf, with the Hokage’s permission. I’ll have to be here if we’re to fight these Great Beasts…”

“Lady Tsunade spoke of them, and apparently some creature with the Sharingan in the Land of Wind.” Sakura looks between the two of them. “Have you found anything out?”

Sasuke shakes his head. “Very little. I sought information of the Uchiha of old and the Sharingan. I found some ancient records. They spoke of us acting as priests in many ways, and the different ways of honouring the dead and assisting their spirits to the afterlife. Talked about personally seeing to the spirit passing over. That part doesn’t really help us.”

Naruto scratches his chin. “It actually might. We oughta talk to grandpa Awaji about this, but… the key to the Great Beasts was someone who could see into the afterlife. We were thinking that might be the Sharingan”

“Oh? Then we need to talk to this… Awaji as soon as we can. I’m curious what you’ve found out since we last met.”

“Honestly, this all still sounds so surreal. Ancient secrets from a thousand years ago, all of a sudden coming back to haunt us.” Sakura shudders. “And we just finished a war, too.”

“It’ll be fine, Sakura!” Naruto pumps his fist. “Now that the team’s back together, we’ll work together to stop whoever’s doing this.”

Sakura laughs. “As confident as always. But we don’t exactly have the time to be a team, you know. We’re not as carefree as we were.”

“We don’t need to be. Even if we’re not close together, as long as we do our thing to help the village, we’re working as a team!”

Sasuke chuckles. “Oddly profound, coming from you.”

“I have my moments.” Naruto grins and extends his hand with his palm facing down. 

Sakura smiles and places her hand on top of his.

Sasuke sees the gesture and shakes his head, “I take back any compliment I’ve given you,” but still follows along and places his hand on top of Sakura’s.

“Team 7 is back!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NAME MEANINGS
> 
> Kashiwama Senju (千手 カシワマ, Senju Kashiwama) - Named after Japanese Emperor Oak, a.k.a. Kashiwa.
> 
> Genzai Sarutobi (猿飛 ゲンザイ, Sarutobi Genzai) - “genzai” = “present”, in contrast to his cousin Mirai whose name means “future”.
> 
> Jiriki Hyūga (日向 ジリキ, Hyūga Jiriki) - “jiriki” = “one's own strength”
> 
> AUTHOR'S NOTE
> 
> As this is an AU, it’s somewhat implied that some canon events differ. In my telling, Team Taka was never a part of the Fourth War and so this is Karin’s first actual meeting with Sasuke since he tried to kill her at the Kage Summit.


	43. Academy Days II - Kigatsu

**ACADEMY DAYS II - KIGATSU**

Yokumaru practically flies down the stairs, using his Flicker to get from the top to the bottom in one swoop. Something his mom doesn’t appreciate him doing inside the house but honestly? It’s too cool not to do it. And it’s practical.

He hears the sound of sizzling pans coming from the kitchen and an absolutely mouth-watering aroma filling the air. His stomach involuntarily grumbles and suddenly he becomes much hungrier than he was a second ago.

He heads for the kitchen with an eager step.

“Good morning, mo-” His cheerful greeting is cut short when he sees who’s cooking.

Rather than the slim frame and silver hair of his mother, it’s the absolute mountain of a man known as Gozu.

The man turns his head and nods a greeting. “Good morning. Breakfast is ready.” He places the food on a plate and sets it on the table in front of Yokumaru. Probably the more surprising thing than seeing Gozu is seeing what he’s wearing- a large green apron that somehow fits him. Yokumaru has seen some large people in the Leaf, mostly that Akimichi clan but even they don’t have this kind of large frame.

“Um, where’s mom?” The boy asks while taking a seat.

“Had to go to work early. Asked me to take care of breakfast.” Gozu responds in his usual monotone voice.

“Oh, okay. Thank you.” Yokumaru begins digging in and after just the first bite is surprised by the result.

Apparently Gozu is a damn good cook. Wouldn’t have thought of it judging by his appearance, so there’s some truth to that old saying.

“This is really good!” Yokumaru compliments him with a full mouth. Another thing his mom’s repeatedly told him not to do but it’s so tasty!

Gozu’s lips curl up in a light smile that he tries to hide, and Yokumaru swears he saw a bit of red on his cheeks. The man takes off the apron and slings it over his shoulder. “Don’t be late for school. Education’s important.” And he begins making his way toward the door, to go back to his own home which is right next door.

“I won’t!” Yokumaru’s eyes linger on the man’s frame as he exits through the door.

A part of his mind wanders back to memories of his dad, or whatever he still has. It’s been becoming blurrier and blurier as time passes. His face, his voice… it’s kind of becoming harder to remember. He can remember his general frame, his hair, those are easy, but the rest?

“If only dad was here to see we’re doing better now…”

Yokumaru shakes those thoughts away and finishes his breakfast in a hurry and gets dressed for the day. When he sprints out the house, he spots his new family, a concert he still needs to fully wrap his head around, having a relaxing morning in the front garden. Yukimaru is tending to the flower beds by the fence, while Guren sits back in a lounging chair watching over him.

Gozu also leaves his home, now dressed in the Hidden Leaf’s shinobi uniform. He nods to Yokumaru as they both prepare to head off to school or work.

“Goodbye, you two!” Yukimaru waves them off with a trowel in hand.

  
  


**[Crystal Style: Crystal Wall]**

A crystalline structure, larger than what he was able to conjure previously, juts out from the ground.

Kotori gracefully jumps back to avoid and begins weaving her own chakra. “Come on, I’ve seen you do this a hundred times, Yokumaru! You should know better.”

“I’ve barely even started.” Yokumaru taunts back; something he doesn’t tend to do often but sometimes the motivation strikes him.

The rest of the class look on, impressed as always by the mythical Crystal Style, a jutsu lost to time that was never even taught about until very recently and even then, not much is taught about it as the only two known casters were never taught about its history themselves. 

Only Shoto doesn’t stare in awe as he’d seen it every day for about a year.

Tenten-sensei stands watch over the spar, taking position in front of class in case any errant jutsu fly their way.

**[Ninja Art Aviary: Ostrich]**

The large flightless bird forms into being right next to Kotori and springs forward. It, too, has increased in size compared to what she could do before. It’s not a fully grown adult yet, but it’s also not a young chick anymore. It’s capable of doing some serious damage.

“Go, Kotori!” Kashiwama cheers from the sidelines.

It runs at Yokumaru and delivers a series of powerful kicks that resonate through the air with a powerful boom but the boy manages to move back to avoid them. Kotori uses this chance to get in closer.

Seeing this, Yokumaru quickly goes through his hand signs.

**[Crystal Style: Crystal Hexagonal Shuriken]**

The discs form at his hand and shoot out toward the Ostrich, shredding it back down to a cluster of feathers. He tries to aim at Kotori, too, but she dodges out of the way and has already finished her next move.

“Alright!” She shouts victoriously. “Get ready for my killing move!”

_ ‘Her… what? When did she get one of those?’ _ Yokumaru ponders.

Shoto cocks his head, curious as to what she’s got planned that they don’t know about.

**[Ninja Art Aviary: Hoatzin]**

The ruffled bird forms from feathers nearby Yokumaru and immediately jumps at him. Right away, Yokumaru can feel his breakfast coming back up. This bird reeks and it’s unbearable. He tries to step back but Kotori has already Flickered next to him and uses his moment of panic to pin him to the ground. The Hoatzin stands right over his head.

“Alright, alright!” Yokumaru cries out. “I give up, just get this thing away from me!”

Kotori grins, “Victory!” and dismisses the stinky bird, also getting off her friend in the meantime.

“That was terrible.” He whines as he gets back to his feet.

Tenten steps closer but quickly stops as the stench left by the Hoatzin hits her nose. “Good show, you two. Now, end the spar.”

Yokumaru and Kotori form the unison signs, signifying their spar was in good faith. With his free hand, Yokumaru holds his nose as the smell still permeates the air.

“Alright, that’s our final spar for the day.” Tenten gathers the class back together, allowing Kotori and Yokumaru some time to rest.

Jiriki huffs and crosses his arms. “So much for this Crystal Style…”

Genzai jabs his friend on the shoulder. “Don’t be like that, Jiriki. It’s an impressive jutsu.”

“Yeah!” One of their classmates chimes in. “It’s probably the strongest jutsu in the Leaf!”

“The Kigatsu clan is gonna be a real powerhouse.” Another girl adds.

The class hounds Yokumaru and Kotori, ever curious about their abilities.

“Are you even hearing yourselves?” Jiriki calls out. “Strongest jutsu? Powerhouse of a clan? Two people don’t make a clan. Our clans founded this village and kept it safe through four wars. We’ve honed our skills to perfection and risen higher than ever.” He scolds his classmates, growing more and more exasperated. “Now an urchin and a criminal join the village and you roll on your backs to praise them? Pathetic.”

Yokumaru freezes in place, having gotten it a little to his head how well he’d been doing of late. In hindsight, he should’ve expected a reaction like this, with him being a new kid with a unique gift. Not wanting to stir any trouble, he remains silent. Kotori, on the other hand, is fuming by his side, seemingly ready to go punch him.

Genzai tries to get Jiriki to quiet down. “Hey, that’s a little…”

“It’s true, is what it is, and you know it,  _ Sarutobi _ .” he makes it a point to emphasize the name of the clan that helped build the village into what it is, the clan that was among the first to join the village following the Senju and Uchiha.

Shoto steps right in Jiriki’s face, himself growing angrier. “Wanna say that with a fist in your face, Hyuga?”   
  
Jiriki smirks. “The clan of cowards defending the “clan” of urchins. Great.”

Before Shoto can answer, be it through words or fists, a bo staff swooshes between the two of them, separating them.

“Enough.” Tenten-sensei commands in her most authoritative voice. “Jiriki, get inside.”

The young Hyuga huffs and turns around, heading into the school.

“Don’t let him get to you, Yokumaru.” Kotori comforts her friend with a pat on the shoulder.

“I won’t…” He lets out as barely a whisper. “I won’t…” He breathes in deeply before raising his voice to be heard by Jiriki. “I won’t let anyone badmouth my family!” He stares at the Hyuga, directly in his pale eyes. “My father passed down these abilities to me and I’ll make it the strongest it can be. If you have a problem with that, try and stop me.”

Jiriki glares before going inside with a huff.

Shoto looks back to Yokumaru with a smirk. “Well, look at you.”

-x-

The rest of the day goes by fairly quietly all things considered. Jiriki barely interacts with anyone, not even to admonish Kashiwama for whatever dumb thing he blurted out lout. Probably fawning over Kotori again.

At the end, the kids decide to take a pit stop. Rather than going directly home, they head off for Ichiraku Ramen, for some after-school bonding. Their time together has been cut somewhat short since starting their new lives, so any chance to be with each other is welcome. Except for one issue.

“Why’s  _ he _ here?” Shoto points to Kashiwama who’s waltzing along with a grin.

“Weeeell, I figure it’d be nice to get to know each other, you know?” Kotori rubs the back of her head.

“Yeah, but isn’t he, like, annoying?” Shoto leans in to whisper.

Kashiwama walks on oblivious to what was just said.

“He’s… fine.” Kotori gives a half answer.

“And  _ him _ ?” Shoto then points to Genzai.

Genzai points to Kashiwama. “I’m just here to make sure this guy gets home. Although I’m not against sharing a bowl of ramen.”

Yokumaru avoids looking him in the eye, focusing on the path ahead. “Aren’t you, I dunno, mad? Jiriki doesn’t like us.”

“He’ll get over it.” Genzai shrugs. “We hang out, but that doesn’t mean we gotta agree on everything.”

Kashiwama shuffles his feet. “And if he ever tries to say something like that about Kotori, I’ll give him a one-two.” He punches the air.

“Um… thanks?”

When the five of them get to Ichiraku, they see a rather familiar sight inside- the unmistakable orange cloak Naruto started to wear since his return to the village. Next to him are Hinata and Konohamaru. The three are eating in a fairly relaxed setting, with Yokumaru’s mom, Yoi, being the one serving them their food.

When she sees the kids enter, she enthusiastically waves and beckons them over. “Hey, kids! Take a seat, I’ll be right with you.”

“Well look who it is!” Naruto grins. “I thought you kids were gonna hang after school.”   
  
“We are.” Kotori answers. “We usually hang out here.”

The kids take what remaining free seats are on the bar counter. People usually prefer to use the tables, but there’s a select few who still prefer the stools from when Ichiraku was a stall and not a restaurant.

When Yokumaru takes a seat, Yoi leans over to kiss him on the forehead before continuing to work.

Yokumaru hunches over, embarrassed. “Mooom…”

Genzai approaches Konohamaru who ruffles his hair, much to the younger boy’s protest.

“You making friends with my juniors, bro?” Konohamaru laughs.

“Your juniors?” Genzai raises a brow.

“Well, of course! I was Naruto’s first student so I’m their senior!” He proudly puffs out his chest. “That’s why you gotta make sure you keep the Sarutobi’s good name, yeah?”

“You two know each other?” Naruto looks between Konohamaru and Genzai.

Konohamaru raises an eyebrow. “Well, yeah, he’s my little brother.”

Naruto blinks. “Your… your what now?”

“My brother. I’ve told you about Genzai.” Konohamaru answers.

Naruto grabs Konohamaru by the scarfs and pulls him off the seat and away from the kids; presumably so they can’t hear but they can still hear despite the attempted whispers.   
  
“What do you mean you’ve told me?! You’ve never mentioned a brother!” Naruto protests this shocking new information.

“What do  _ you _ mean?! Of course I’ve told you, like when we…” Konohamaru stops to recollect his thoughts. “No, wait, that was Udon. Or that time we… no, that was Ebisu-sensei… Umm...”

Naruto lightly and mockingly smacks him over the head. “You little…”

The two of them turn around, acting as if everything was normal with wide grins on their faces.

Genzai looks to his brother with a hurt expression. “Oi…”

“Ah, Genzai, I’ve heard soo much from Konohamaru. It’s good to finally meet the brother my pupil is so proud of!” He crosses his arms and nods sagely.

“You don’t have to pretend, we heard you.” Genzai facepalms.

Kashiwama laughs. “Isn’t that great, Gen? The one and only Naruto Uzumaki knows of you!”

Genzai lifts his face from his palm to look to his friend with disbelief. “I seriously don’t know what world you live in, man.”

Hinata leans over to the Senju boy. “And you must be Kashiwama? Your mother speaks fondly of you.”

The boy blushes and rubs the back of his neck in embarrassment. “Yes, ma’am, that’s me.”   
  
“It’s very nice to meet you, I’m Kotori’s mom, Hinata Hyuga.”

“Oh, everyone in the village knows you and Naruto Uzumaki!” Kashiwama fanboys over them.

“Hmpf.” Shoto proudly crosses his arms. “Of course they are, they’re the strongest there is.”

As everyone gets seated in their new positions, the kids order their ramen and Yoi heads to the back to prepare their servings, while Ayame remains at the counter to serve any clients to enter.

“Are you taking a break, sensei?” Yokumaru asks both his teachers.

“Yes, we had some time to ourselves and wanted to get out into the city.” Hinata answers.   
  


Naruto claps Konohamaru on the back. “And we ran into Konohamaru here at Ichiraku, when he should be training for the Chunin Exams!”

“Hey, I AM training!” Konohamaru protests.

“The Chunin Exams?” Yokumaru tilts his head questioningly.

“Ah, yeah, I guess you haven’t talked about that in school, huh?” Naruto scratches his chin. “If you wanna rise through the ranks, you gotta prove yourself in these exams and show ya got what’s needed.”

“It’s a series of tasks that tests you physically and mentally, to assure you’re prepared for the responsibilities.” Hinata adds. “As Genin, you’re a junior and follow your superiors’ orders but as a Chunin, you’re the one who gives those orders.”

Naruto mockingly points to Konohamaru with a thumb. “And this kid thinks he’s ready.”

“Hey, I am SO ready, you don’t even know!” The younger boy crosses his arms and huffs. “I’m gonna ace it so good they’re gonna bump me right to Hokage.”

“That’s not how it works, bro.” Genzai sighs at his brother’s usual antics. He gets particular when the title of Hokage is brought up.

“Who’s to say how things work?” Kashiwama interjects. “The world’s changing every day. It’s not the same as when my ancestors founded the village, and it’ll be even more different for our descendants. At some point, the change has to begin.”

“That’s… oddly philosophical coming from you.” Genzai raises a brow.

“If we’re talking Hokage, then dad’s a shoe-in, right?” Kotori adds. “The whole world loves him, there’s no way he won’t be!”

“Of course I’ll be!” Naruto pounds his chest. “But for now I have other responsibilities that need taking care of.”

Hinata chuckles. “So different from before.”

“Yeah, bro.” Konohamaru nods. “Sounds like you’ve learned to watch your next step.”

The group at the counter laugh and have an all-around merry time. The kids recount what they did and learned at school, showing off their knowledge, earning the praise of the 3 older shinobi.

As Yoi’s been back in the kitchen, Yokumaru takes some test papers from his pack to show off to her directly. He excuses himself and makes his way to the back of Ichiraku Ramen where his mom cooks for the restaurant.

He goes through the door to the side and to the kitchen, a path he’s taken before after being given express permission from Teuchi and Ayame, since his mom started working.

When Yokumaru opens the kitchen door, the sight in front of him causes him to stop in his tracks.

His mom is in the kitchen, standing over the cooking pot while the head chef Teuchi has his hand on her back. He’s laughing and being way too close. This has got to be one of those situations, right? The sleazebag’s taking advantage of his mom and forcing himself on her. He’s seen this happen way too often in the capital and he never was able to actually do something about it but it’s different now! He trained with one of the best shinobi in the world and he’s not about to let this guy get grabby with his own mother.

Just as he’s about to yell out to him with enough anger for a lifetime, his mother turns to Teuchi. She’s not annoyed, she’s not angry. She’s laughing with him. Yoi leans over to kiss Teuchi on the cheek and even steps closer to him.

Yokumaru stares with horror, trying to process the scene playing out right now. His mind races over every memory he has of his dad, every word, every action he can recall. Seeing his mom this close with this random man is making it difficult. He can feel his world falling apart.

“Hey, who are- Yokumaru?”

A male voice snaps Yokumaru back. He focuses his eyes forward, to Teuchi who’d turned around to see him. Yoi had also turned around, her eyes wide with shock, not unlike how he’d been just seconds ago.

“Yoku…” Yoi quickly pushes away from Teuchi and steps toward her son. “Honey, I-”

Yokumaru darts off at full speed. Yoi chases after him but there’s no way she can catch up to a ninja, even if just an Academy student. He bursts out the door, into the restaurant proper, and continues running at full speed, much to the confusion of everyone inside.

When Yoi runs out after him a few second later, Naruto stands from his seat to walk after the clearly distraught woman. She stops just outside the door, looking frantically at where her son might have gone but he’s already out of sight.

“Yoi?” Naruto walks behind her with Hinata besides him. The kids are staying back but are also concerned with what’s going with Yokumaru.

Yoi turns around and pleads. “Naruto, Hinata, please, I need to find Yoku. I… I’m sorry I have to keep relying on you, I’m just…”

Hinata walks to her and places her hands on the woman’s shoulders. “It’s alright. What happened?”

Hesitant, Yoi takes them to the side, to explain away from prying ears.

-x-

On a rooftop not too far away from Ichiraku Ramen, Yokumaru sits atop a water container, curled up and hugging his knees. With his head buried in his legs, he looks down at his hands, absent-mindedly fiddling with a small crystal he’d made with his Crystal Style. This jutsu is really the only thing he has to remember his dad by. They never were blessed much in terms of the material so this is the only memento he has. If he struggles real hard, he might be able to look at the reflection and see his dad but that memory’s slowly been fading away. Every day, he has to struggle more and more to remember how he looked.

He doesn’t stay alone for too long before he hears 2 sets of footfalls land besides him. He looks up just in time to see the orange markings fade around Naruto’s eyes, and the veins disappear around Hinata’s. In hindsight, he probably should’ve expected that hiding wouldn’t work.

He buries his head in his knees again.

Naruto sits down in front of him, while Hinata sits down next to him.

Hinata tries to comfort him by caressing his hair. “Your mom told us what happened.” No response. “It’s fine to be upset. I know this kind of change can be daunting but you two are a team. You have to go through it together.”

Yokumaru shakes his head. “I don’t want it to change. It was fine how it was.”

Naruto scoots a bit closer. “Hey, man, you know change can be a good thing. You’ve gone through a lot of it these past years, right?”

“I just… don’t want some stranger replacing dad! We don’t need anyone else! That doesn’t have to change!”

“And have you told your mother that? Did you talk it over with her?” Hinata asks as she continues to comfort the boy.

He shakes his head.

“The most important thing is making your feelings heard. Speak with her openly and allow her to do the same. You both love each other; I know you can come to see how the other feels. You said you were going to become stronger for your mother, correct?”

“Yeah.” He lets out a meek response. “I just dunno how to do it.”

“You can start by saying what you said to us- that you fear for your father’s memory. The rest will come out on its own.”

Naruto sits opposite Hinata, now both of them sitting to Yokumaru’s sides. “I know this probably isn’t something you wanna hear, but hear me out, anyway, okay? I promise there’s a point to it.” Naruto’s words cause Yokumaru to look up to him, still resting his head on his knees. “Teuchi was kind to me when almost no one else was. He’s one of the best people I know. You know that power from the Nine-Tails that I use? Well, people were afraid of one person having that much power so they were afraid of  _ me _ and didn’t like me at all.”

“They didn’t?” Yokumaru finally straightens. “But people love you, sensei.”

“Yeah, they do now. But back then?” Naruto shakes his head. “Teuchi, though; he didn’t care about any of that. He let me eat his ramen and never once made me feel unwelcome. I didn’t find out ‘til later but apparently he lost a lotta business ‘cause of that. People didn’t wanna eat in the same place as me but it never crossed his mind to kick me out just to save his shop. I guess what I’m trying to say is- Teuchi’s a good man with a big heart. He might be more understanding than you think.”

“I didn’t know you were that close with him.”

“He’s a good friend. He can be yours, too, if you let him. But it’s all up to you if you wanna. If you don’t, then make it clear. Make your voice heard, alright?” Naruto lightly fistbumps him on the chest.

Yokumaru gives a slow nod, trying to process the conversation.

Hinata stands up and offers him a helping hand. “Let’s get you home, alright?”

-x-

Outside of their homes, Yoi paces back and forth while Guren watches on.

“He’ll be fine, Yoi.” Guren tries to comfort her aunt, which isn’t really a specialty of hers.

“I should’ve been upfront with him. I should’ve told him, instead of letting him find out like this.” Yoi distresses. 

“You wanted to make sure it was actually serious before dumping it on him. That’s a good thing. You did good by him, it just didn’t work out in this particular case.” Guren shrugs. “He’ll come around.”

“You didn’t see his face, Guren. I’ve never seen him so… betrayed.” Yoi crosses arms, not knowing what to do with them right now with all the stress.

“And I’m sure he’ll get over it.”   
  
“I hope you’re right…”

At this point, Naruto and Hinata land in front of their gate, Yokumaru in tow. Quiet and with his head down, he makes his way toward his mom. His sensei talked it over with him, told him how important communication is, but… right now talking isn’t on his mind. He can’t bring himself to do it.

Yokumaru walks right past Yoi and heads inside, much to Yoi’s dismay.

“I’m sorry.” Naruto steps towards her. “We tried to talk to him, but…”

Yoi shakes her head. “No, you’ve done more than enough. Spending that time apart made him into an amazing young boy, but maybe it drifted us apart in ways I didn’t predict.”

“I do believe he understands, he simply needs time to process it.” Hinata adds.

“I’ll… try to fix this. Thank you.” Yoi bows and heads back inside.

Guren sighs, placing a hand over her belly. “Kids, huh? What a mess.”

Naruto laughs. “Take notes, you’ll be dealing with this kinda thing soon enough.”

“Don’t remind me. I still have no clue how you’re even supposed to raise one. Definitely gonna mess it up.” Guren contemplates.

“That’s where your own family comes into play.” Hinata smiles to her. “Gozu is attentive, Yukimaru is eager for a sibling, and Yoi and Yokumaru I’m certain will also help their new family member.”

“Right?” Naruto beams. “Even if you stumble somewhere, others are around to pick you up. Already happened to you once, didn’t it? When you met Gozu and Yukimaru the first time.”

Guren shakes her head with a short laugh. “Where are you two brats coming off so sagely. Go home, you’ve already had enough family drama for the day.”

“Good night, Guren.” Hinata bows, while Naruto gives a mock salute, and the two of them head off home, as does Guren.

-x-

Back in the Uzumaki residence, Kotori’s also nervously been waiting. After Yokumaru rushed out, the kids were sent home while the adults figure out what’s going on. Still, she can’t exactly sit still while her friend is in some form of distress, although there’s not much else she can do right now. Naruto and Hinata got this covered, right?

As she muses and worries, her parents arrive at the front door.

She immediately jumps to her feet. “What happened? Is Yokumaru alright?”

“He… will be eventually.” Naruto tries to give a comforting but vague answer.

“But… what happened?” Kotori repeats the question.

Hinata kneels down to be level with her. “Everything that happened, it’s for Yoi and Yokumaru to talk over. It’s their story to share and they will when they’re ready. Until then, we have to give them space, okay? Just try to keep Yokumaru close as you always have.”

Kotori gives a very confused nod. “Okay? I’ll try.”

Naruto claps his hands in an attempt to bring the attention away from the gloomier subject. “Alright, let’s see what’s for dinner!” And he walks inside.

Hinata raises a brow. “But we already ate.”

“Yeah, but I’m hungry again.”

She laughs. “Alright, let’s see what leftovers there are.”

The three of them walk back home for their second dinner. Before fully closing the door, Kotori gives one final glance, almost expecting Yokumaru to show up and reassure her there’s nothing to worry about. Sadly, he’s nowhere to be found.

  
  


At the Kigatsu household, Yoi woke up earlier than normal from a combination of factors. Worry being about 90% of it. Last night, Yokumaru went straight to bed and locked himself in his room, not responding to any of her calls. She decided giving him space might be for the best right now, as Hinata herself suggested.

This early in the morning, there’s not much for her to do. Normally she’d keep herself occupied with some kind of housework but she already went through that. Now all she can do is pace. Around the house, around the yard, anywhere her feet can take her, and hope that Yokumaru will be in the mood to talk.

“Good morning, auntie!” A boyish voice snaps her from her nervous pacing.

She whips her head to the house next door, where Yukimaru is tending to the flower beds. “Oh, good morning.” She tries to put on a brave smile, not wanting to pass her worry onto the boy. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you.”

“That’s alright, I just got out.” He lifts his watering can to show her. “Have to keep the plants nice and fresh.”

“You’ve a very diligent boy, Yukimaru.” She smiles, a bit more genuinely, at him.

“Is... Yokumaru alright?” He asks cautiously. “Guren said he’s not feeling well right now, but he must be better if he left out the window.”

“He’s… going through something. I really hope he can-” Yoi stops mid-sentence. “What did you say about a window?”

Yukimaru points to the side of the house. “I saw him jump out the window while I was getting dressed.”

Yoi immediately dashes to the side to check, only to confirm what Yukimaru said. The window’s open, the curtains are pulled back, and there’s clearly no one there. She darts back into the house and onto the second floor, leaving behind a very confused Yukimaru. She tries to open the door but it’s still locked. She darts back outside and gets right at the fence, as close as he can get to the neighbouring house without passing through.

“Did you see where he went?!”

Yukimaru steps back like a frightened bunny. “Um, no? Is this bad? Did something bad happen?”

Yoi snaps out of it when she sees her plan to not worry him failed miserably. “No, no, Yuki, I’m sorry. It’s alright.”

He calms down and steps forward again. “He looked upset. Is there something I can do? We only just got together as a family, I want to help if I can.”   
  
“Thank you, sweetie.” She opens her arms to invite him into a hug, which he accepts, and the two embrace over the fence that separates their homes. “You don’t have to worry about a thing.” She looks over once again at the open window, her nerves getting the better of her once again. “Not a thing.”

-x-

At the Academy, the class has gathered and are only waiting for the bell to ring to signal the start of the school day. Everyone is present, save for one. The seat next to Kotori and Shoto remains empty. The two fidget in their seats, still not entirely sure what happened yesterday. Was it so bad he’d skip the day?

It isn’t until the bell rings that Yokumaru shows up, literally a moment before Tenten arrives herself, following right behind him.

“Rise.” As usual, Jiriki signals the morning ritual. “Bow.”

Tenten ruffles Yokumaru’s hair as she passes and laughs. “Just beat me to it. Take your seat.”

He walks over with his head lowered and sits down, only to immediately be barraged with questions by his friends.

He manages to give the faintest of smiles and mutter “I’m okay. Really.”

The rest of the day would prove that he isn’t actually. A lack of focus, a lack of motivation during sparring and training, and an all-around lack of energy. He never was the most outgoing, but it was never this bad.

Still, any attempt to question was deflected which made them both more worried and more annoyed. Worried that something’s going on with their friend that might be too much of him, and annoyed that he doesn’t trust them after all they’ve been through.

It isn’t until after school ends that Kotori and Shoto follow him outside.

“Okay, no more hiding, no more lying!” Kotori crosses her arms.

“Come on, man, haven’t you learned keeping… whatever it is you’re keeping isn’t helping anyone?” Shoto stands on a railing besides her.

“Just leave me alone, alright?” He walks past them. “Don’t wanna talk.”

Kotori fumes. “Mom and dad didn’t leave us alone.” She declares. “Even when you stole from us, they didn’t leave you alone and they fought to get you to where you are right now! We wouldn’t be here if they left you alone!”

“Maybe woulda been better if they did.” He mutters.

“Hey-” Before Shoto walk forward after him, Kotori steps.

She grabs Yokumaru by the shoulder to spin him around and slaps him, the sound echoing slightly in the street. “Seriously?!” She doesn’t hide anger. “It’d be better if they left your mom sick and dying?!”

“Wha- NO!” He shouts back, holding his reddened cheek. “Obviously not!”   
  
“‘Cause that’s basically what you said you wanted!”

“Well it’s not! You guys wouldn’t get it.”

“Then help us get it.” Shoto jumps down from the railing. “What do you gain by keeping to yourself?”

Yokumaru tightly grips his shirt. “Alright.”

He leads them to a nearby park where they can sit in private, away from prying ears, and tells them what he saw and how he reacted.

He hides his face in his palms. “So now I dunno what to do.”

“Oh, Yoku…” Kotori offers a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

“So you’ve just been running and avoiding? Seriously?” Shoto admonishes his actions.

“Well, yeah! I dunno what to say…”

“Shisho talked with you about it, didn’t they? So why, you know, listen to them?” The Teshin boy asks what he feels is an obvious question.

“It’s not that easy. I just… choke, you know? There’s so much I wanna say and I don’t wanna say it the wrong way to hurt her.”

“But... she’s probably hurting a lot right now, ‘cause you don’t want to talk to her.” Kotori says in a calmer, more soothing voice.

Yokumaru grumbles. “Yeah. You’re right.”

“Do you want us to stick around with you?” Shoto asks out of genuine concern and wanting to do what’s right by his friend.

After a brief pause, Yokumaru answers. “I think I need some time alone for this.”

Kotori and Shoto nods in understanding. Kotori brings him into a tight hug while Shoto offers a more distant fistbump on the chest. They both slowly make their way back home while Yokumaru stays alone.

-x-

Meanwhile, during the day, things weren’t all that better at Ichiraku Ramen. Deciding to put her faith in her son, Yoi went to work as normal, trusting that Yokumaru will vent and work through things on his own until he’s ready to talk. If he’s not home by evening, she’ll have to ask for help once again.

The entire time, she’s a bit distant from Teuchi and Ayame, acting entirely professionally both behind the counter and in the kitchen. Ayame, unlike Yokumaru, knew of the budding romance but kept it between themselves until it was decided to be put out in the open. She respected their wishes and had more time to get used to everything.

She’s worried about what’s to come, for a number of her own reasons.

While continuing to work the counter and serving orders, she does overhear a brief part of a conversation happening in the back, where Yoi and Teuchi are talking as they prepare the meals.

Yoi keeps her distance from Teuchi and meekly says. “I think it’d be best to… take a break. Until Yokumaru feels better about this. It hasn’t been that long since his father died, I don’t…” She swallows deeply. “I want to do right by him. I have to.”

Teuchi tentatively smiles. “Yes, of course. I understand.”

“I’m sorry.” In a hurry, Yoi fills a bowl of ramen and goes to place it for pick-up.

Ayame tries to pretend she hadn’t heard a thing and begins cleaning an already clean glass, to appear busy.

The remainder of the work day is tense and not as cheery or loud as Ichiraku tends to be.

-x-

After work, Ayame stops by the store for some shopping before heading home. With bags full of food, she decides she needs some fresh air so takes the long way home. That leads her through a particular park she’d sometimes go to when she’s not on shift at work, a place that helps her get in touch with herself.

Apparently, that’s the case not only for her.

As she passes through, she sees a boy sitting on a swing on the playground, unmistakable bed of silver hair. Yokumaru.

Her mind races as to the best course of action.

On one hand, she can talk to him and maybe reach an understanding, although she’s probably not a person she wants to see right now. On the other hand, she’s probably the most familiar with what he’s going through.

Ayame slowly approaches the sulking Yokumaru, not wanting to put him in a position he’s not comfortable with. “Mind if I sit with you?”

He gives a barely identifiable shrug from his curled up position, which Ayame accepts as at least a temporary invitation. She sits on the swing next to him, staying quiet for a moment to allow her presence to sink in but also to allow herself a few extra minutes to find the right words. She’s not sure she has them but she still needs to say it.

“I know it’s a lot to take in. How flipped around everything feels right now. How unfair it feels. Better than you probably think.”

Yokumaru stays quiet but listens as Ayame continues, watching him from the corner of her eyes for a reaction.

“When mom died, dad tried to date again. He introduced a few women he’d been seeing and I did my absolute best to make it clear I hated them and didn’t want them anywhere near me. Because I didn’t want anyone to take my mom’s place, to erase my memories of her. Sound familiar?”   
  
Yokumaru slightly tilts his head to actually look at her as she talks.

“My dad, bless him, eventually gave up on dating. He put his own happiness on hold just to make sure I felt in a safe and comfortable place. He never went out with anyone else, not until now when your mom started working for us.” She sighs and begins casually pushing herself back and forth on the swing, only going a few centimetres. “I’ll admit, looking back on it, I regret doing what I did. I’ve come to realize how his pain was different from mine and he needed a different way to cope from me, and I never let him. I probably made him sadder but he never let it show and looking back on it, I wish I thought more about him. Because at the end of the day, I love him and I want him to be happy. It’s the same for you, isn’t it?””

Yokumaru nods. “Yeah.”

“You’re a smart kid. Smarter than I was. So you can probably understand better than I could how important your parent’s feelings are. You don’t have to accept my dad if you don’t want to, but let your mom be happy, too, okay?” Ayame stands up from the swing and picks up the bags she’d set to the side. “She’s probably looking for you now. You should go to her, for both your sake.”

As Ayame begins walking away, Yokumaru speaks up. “Do you want to have another mom?”

Ayame stops and thinks for a moment. “Even if dad starts seeing someone else, I’ll still only have 1 mom.”

“I see.”

“YOKUMARU!” A voice calls out from the distance.

The boy whips his head to the familiar voice, only to see his mom frantically running at full speed and looking around in a panic. Teuchi is right behind her. Both looks exhausted, as if they’d been running for quite some time.

“YOKUMARU!”

After a moment, Yoi sees Yokumaru and Ayame at the playground and makes a mad dash to her son, skidding to her knees on the sand in front of him on the swing. Teuchi slows his pace and walks up to his daughter, desperate to catch his breath.

Yokumaru is speechless, unsure how to react to his mom’s panicked state, or of Teuchi’s presence. The man seems to have been out helping her search for him, despite how much it took out of him.

“I was so worried!” Yoi looks her son over to make sure he’s alright.

“Mom... “ Yokumaru becomes teary-eyed. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be, honey.” She pulls him into a tight hug, caressing his hair. “I’m just glad you’re alright.”

“Mom.” He lets out in a meek voice.

“Yes?”

“Can we talk?”

Yoi smiles and kisses him on the forehead. “Always. You can talk to me about anything.”

She stands up, taking him by the hands as he hops off the swing. He holds onto her hand as if his life depended on it.

“Teuchi.” She addresses the man. “Thank you for being here. About earlier today...”

He raises a hand to stop her. “You don’t have to say a word. Your son needs you. As a parent, there’s only one thing to do.”

Yoi bows. “Thank you. And thank you, Ayame, for being with him.”

“Of course.” The young woman smiles. “He’s a good kid.”

As Yoi turns to go home with her son, Yokumaru breaks away from her to go to Ayame. Without a word, he gives a very sudden and very brief hug, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Thanks.” With just that, he runs back to his mom’s side.

That night, he and his mom would have an in-depth conversation and fully open to each other about how they feel, and they’d become much closer for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note
> 
> 1) Honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure how to go about this chapter. I know step-families can be a source of tension that sometimes breaks apart families for life. I didn’t want to just gloss over how it affects kids, but also didn’t want to dwell on the negative side too much as I don’t think that fits the style of a Battle Shounen. I hope I did well enough.
> 
> 2) And, yeah, I know, I made the Hyuga a dick. It just… feels right.
> 
> 3) Konohamaru actually having a sibling might come out of left field since one would think something like that would be brought up over the years, his parents were also never brought up in the actual series. So I figure it can work. It was either make Genzai Konohamaru's sibling or his cousin, but we've also never been made privy to the possibility that Hiruzen had a 3rd child.


	44. Academy Days III - Teshin

**ACADEMY DAYS III - TESHIN**

Shoto’s days follow a specific routine. He gets up early in the morning to get in more training and practice his form, hone his martial art. He’s taken to training inside the dojo, after his training behind the house woke up his family a few times. So dojo, it is. It works just as well for him but he does prefer to hit the tree trunks for endurance training.

His parents have shown worry that he’s overworking himself, waking up much earlier than they’d recommend and putting more of a strain on his growing body than he should, but he’s brushed it aside. He needs to be in perfect shape if he’s to be the top taijutsu practitioner and show off the Teshin clan’s Shorin-ryu martial arts. Most of all, he needs to be several steps ahead of Jiriki Hyuga.

As he continues his training in the hall, teachers from the Teshin clan begin to arrive in order to prepare for the day and soon after, students begin flooding. That’s his cue to take a rest before school starts.

While changing out of his training robes, he does see a rather peculiar figure enter the dojo. A young girl of no more than 15 years of age with long dark brown hair tied in a ponytail. Her very distinct pale eyes are a dead giveaway of her identity. A Hyuga.

Shoto raises a brow at her presence here. Why would a Hyuga of all people come to the Teshin clan’s dojo. Surely they have their own place to train and wouldn’t need to mingle with anyone else.

The girl is immediately welcomed by none other than his own parents, themselves just arriving in the dojo.

“Lady Hanabi.” Asami Teshin bows to the Hyuga heiress, as does her husband. “It’s an honour to welcome you.”

Hanabi bows back. “Asami-sensei, Itosuke-sensei. Thank you for agreeing to see me.”

“Of course. How could we ever refuse?” Asami motions her to follow them further inside, to possibly discuss… something. Shoto’s preparing his things more slowly now, kind of curious why Hanabi Hyuga of all people is here.

Itosuke asks a question Shoto himself has been asking. “I’m still uncertain as to why you would seek us out. The Hyuga’s Gentle Fist is hardly something we can assist you with training.”

Hanabi follows them toward the back of the dojo, towards a door that leads to a series of room; most of them changing rooms but also some rest rooms and offices. “It’s not training that I require, Itosuke-sensei, but experience against other fighting styles. The upcoming Chunin Exams may be the most important in a long time and I aim to perform at my best.”

_ ‘So it’s about those Chunin Exams?’ _ Shoto thinks to himself as he finally finishes packing his things, having taken longer than he should.

Heading to the exit, Hanabi calls out to him. “You’re Shoto, right? Hinata’s student.”

Shoto turns around, surprised to be recognized. “Um, yes?”

Hanabi smirks, “Keep at it, alright? Don’t let  _ him _ put you down.” and goes with Itosuke and Asami to the back rooms of the Shorin dojo.

Shoto raises a confused eyebrow. “Could she mean…” He shakes his head. “Nevermind.”

  
  


At the Academy, days go by as normal. Tenten teacher the usual subjects- ancient and recent history of the shinobi world, jutsu theory, and even survival. Her specialty, of course, is weapons training, where she runs them through practice, encouraging them to pick up a new weapon each time.

Today, Shoto picks up a nunchaku. He watches Yokumaru fumble around with a tanto blade, while Kotori tries to keep a wakizashi stable in her hands. Hopefully this’ll end with all limbs still attached.

He takes a glance at the Hyuga who’s getting better acquainted with a chain-sickle. For a very brief moment their eyes meet and they immediately turn to face away from each other, pretending it never happened.

When it comes with right down to it, Shoto doesn’t need a weapon. Neither do his friends as far as he’s concerned. They’ve both got amazing abilities that would be better honed instead, but it never hurts to have a fallback in case things go south. For him, though, his weapons are the only weapons he needs, should all else fail. Jiriki is probably thinking the same thing. Their pride comes from their martial art, not steel.

Still, they have to take part in this class. It’s part of the curriculum, after all.

-x-

The part of the day Shoto actually looks forward is the taijutsu spars, where he gets to show off what he’s really capable of.

“Shoto Teshin.” Tenten calls out for the boy to step forward.

Shoto takes his position on the field, expectantly waiting for his opponent for today to be chosen. He knows who he wants to fight, but has never come up.

“Genzai Sarutobi.” Tenten calls out the second participant.

Shoto lightly groans in annoyance. Not today, either.

As Genzai steps forward with his hands in his pockets, Tenten eyes both Shoto and Jirirki, and thinks to herself. ‘ _ I wonder how long I can keep these two separated… _ ’

Genzai and Shoto give the traditional start of shinobi spars, with the Seal Of Confrontation- index and middle finger pointed upward. It took Shoto a bit of time to get used to this one, as he’d subconsciously give his own greeting of bowing with a fist in his palm.

Looking at the relaxed Genzai now, he realizes he’s never truly seen him fight seriously. He always gives these halfhearted attempts and even though he does win, that’s more because the classmates he was paired against just aren’t that good with taijutsu. Looking at the young Sarutobi now, one hand still in his pocket… Shoto’s motivation is diminishing. Seeing someone not taking martial arts seriously is infuriating to say the least. First the Hyuga, but now the Sarutobi makes light of the situation. Looks like this one needs to be taught a lesson.

“Begin!” Tenten gives the signal.

Shoto dashes forward, not waiting even a moment for Genzai to even try any sort of defence, given how terrible his starting stance is. One hit should be enough to decide this.

Shoto delivers a jab to the sides of the stomach, but Genzai slips out of the way. Another jab to the chest that Genzai spins out of the way for, spinning right into Shoto’s face, as a matter of fact. Far too close for comfort, far closer than he ever should’ve gotten and yet he somehow was fast enough to do it.

Shoto pushes him away and takes a step back himself. ‘ _ This guy… _ ’

Genzai smirks. “Watching you and Jiriki have a go at it… This big rivalry about taijutsu mastery… Really, who cares? It’s just annoying, isn’t it?” He yawns.

“Didn’t strike me as the type who cares.” Shoto runs at him.

“I don’t. That’s why it’s annoying to watch every day.” Genzai runs forward, as well.

When Shoto comes near, he goes for another jab but stop mid-way. He switches to a kick, hoping to catch Genzai off guard. It doesn’t work.

Genzai leaps in the air and wraps a leg around Shoto’s leg which was aiming right for his shoulder. He snakes his leg around and pulls Shoto off-balance, just close enough for him to spin mid-air and deliver an axe kick to the Teshin boy.

Shoto falls face-first to the ground just as Genzai lands on his feet and takes a step back. Shoto grunts in frustration and pushes himself up with one hand while cleaning his face with the other.

On the sidelines, Jiriki smirks. “So he’s actually trying now.”

“He’s always trying.” Kashiwama munches on some snacks next to him. “You just try too hard.”

Jiriki crosses his arms and pretends he didn’t hear that.

‘ _ This guy’s a taijutsu master, too? He’s been hiding his abilities from us? No, Jiriki Hyuga and Kashiwama Senju probably know exactly what he’s capable of. _ ’

Genzai remains in a completely neutral position. Nothing about his current demeanor would suggest he’s in a fight. That only pisses Shoto off even more.

This time, he braces himself like never before, taking on a more defensive stance. He focuses all of his energy to face this one unexpected foe and prepares to strike with more thought.

The two boys continue their bout at a more event pace now that Shoto has cleared his head. Genzai fights with impressive speed and an unpredictable fighting style. The Shorin-ryu can stand up against many forms of martial arts and is well equipped to handle different situations. This, however, is entirely different.

Genzai’s taijutsu is wholly unpredictable and has no rhythm to it whatsoever. He’s constantly spinning, jumping, or both. His attacks don’t follow a pattern that Shoto can recognize and no two attacks are really the same. He’s almost like…

“A monkey.” Yokumaru observes from the side.

Kotori nods. “It’s weird how anyone can fight like that. Reminds me a lot of Hayai.”

“That was… your friend from the Hidden Cloud?”

“Yeah. It’s a different style but really wild just like Genzai’s.”

The class gasps. Kotori and Yokumaru turn their attention back to the fight just in time to see Shoto gets kneed in the chest and shoved to the ground. Genzai stands atop the fallen Shoto, knee pressed down on the chest.

Shoto grits his teeth and tries to push himself up to no avail. “Fine. I give.”

Genzai stands up and offers a hand to his opponent. Shoto ignores it and stands up on his own.

“Alright then.” Genzai puts his hand back in his pocket, not overly disturbed by the display.

Before Shoto can get out of the arena, Tenten calls out to him. “The Seal of Reconciliation.”

The two boys intertwine their index and middle fingers, the same ones used to issue the challenge, into what’s also called the Unison Sign, meant to symbolize good will and no bad intentions between the two foes. Whether that’s actually true is another matter altogether.

Genzai has his usual aloof expression in stark contrast to the frustration Shoto feels.

“Don’t get too caught up in stuff that doesn’t matter.” Genzai goes back to where Jiriki and Kashiwama are.

Tenten sighs. ‘ _ I might have to keep  _ these _ two apart now, too. _ ’

Kashiwama laughs and pats his friend on the back. “That was awesome!”

“An odd time to show off, don’t you think.” Jiriki huffs. “So does this mean you plan on sparring with me again?”

Kashiwama laughs. “Maybe this time you’ll actually win.”

Jiriki grumbles and crosses his arms.

Genzai sits down to rest from the spar. “Well, you know how it is. Sometimes life sways you one direction, the next day- in another.”

“Now you just sound like an old man...”

Shoto, on the other side of the group plops down on the ground with a dissatisfied grunt, coming from both frustration and pain.

“Wow, who knew Genzai was that good.” Yokumaru comments.

“Damnit. I was so focused on beating Jiriki…” Shoto lightly hits the ground with a fist.

Kotori takes out a medicinal salve from her pack and hands it to Shoto. “Use this. Mom made it.”

“Thanks.” He takes the salve and begins applying it to his sore spots. It stings on touch but that might be just the bruises.

“You’re gonna obsess over this, aren’t you?” Kotori asks with a knowing smile.

“Wha- I don’t obsess!” Shoto protests.

“You kind of do, though.” Yokumaru agrees with her assessment.

Shoto grumbles. “Yeah, well, shadap.”

-x-

At the end of the school day, as everyone heads out to go home, the three usual suspects are still together until their paths fully diverge.

“Hey, Yoku, Shoto, wanna go to one of the training grounds and  _ really _ let loose?” Kotori grins.

Shoto chuckles. “Where’s this coming from?”

“Well, y’know, we still gotta train on our stuff, right? And it’s always good to train against other people.”

Shoto scratches his chin. “I suppose.”

That’s probably what Hanabi Hyuga meant when she stopped by the dojo earlier. Training on your own can only do you so much good until you stop being able to grow. The shinobi world is varied and unless you know how to deal with that variety… Shoto looks back, taking a cursory glance at the Academy that’s still barely in view. His eyes dart around for the Sarutobi boy but he’s nowhere in sight, probably gone home already.

“I actually can’t.” Yokumaru chimes in. “We’re going to dinner.”

“With your mom?” Kotori asks.

Yokumaru nods in response. “Yeah. And Teuchi and Ayame.”

Shoto smiles and fistbumps him on the shoulder. “So you’re all good now?”

Yokumaru smiles. “I think so. At least I’m trying to be.”

Kotori runs up to him and gives him a tight hug. “That’s great, Yokumaru! So you made up with your mom.”

“Yeah. It’s… still a lot to take in but you guys were right. Talking about it was good.”

Shoto crosses his arms. “Of course we were right. We always are.”

“You have fun, alright?” Kotori beams. “We’ll try not to get too strong without you.”

Yokumaru laughs. “Don’t hold back just for me.”

With that, Yokumaru goes for a family dinner, or as close to a family as they are right now, while Kotori and Shoto Flicker away to the nearest training.

Shoto looks at Kotori from the corner of his eye. “If you summon that stink bird, I’m never training with you again.”

Kotori laughs. “Way to be a sore loser.”

_ Later that evening _

After an afternoon of sparring and further training with Kotori, Shoto returns home thankfully not stinking of manure because of that hoatzin thing they saw in the Land of Water. He still has no idea how or why Kotori isn’t affected by the throat-wrenching smell.

He opens the doors to the dojo to be met by a sight he wasn’t necessarily expecting. Hanabi Hyuga is still here for some reason, sitting to the side next to his mother Asami.

Probably the weirder part is what’s happening in the arena itself. His father Itosuke is currently sparring with… a green man. A bowl haircut, thick eyebrows, a green jumpsuit- an absolutely odd combination of elements and yet here it is in front of him.

When he enters, his mom beckons him to join them by the side which he does while keeping an eye on the spar.

The green man is fast. Even if it’s just for training, he can tell this guy isn’t even using a fraction of his abilities and yet he’s still delivering these heavy blows and kicks. Itosuke Teshin is well trained, one of the best among the clan, but the Shorin-ryu martial art hasn’t had to stand against actual shinobi since the Second War. It’s definitely lost its edge; an edge that Shoto intends on sharpening once more.

Shoto bows to his guest and sits down seiza-style next to his mother. “Your training isn't over?” He asks Hanabi.

Hanabi smiles to him. “The day went quicker than we anticipated. And then Rock Lee came to the dojo and I couldn’t simply leave without watching this fight.”

“Rock Lee?” Shoto turns his attention back to the arena. “Is that who that is.”

Hanabi nods. “My sister never talked about him?”

“I think they did. Apparently he’s super strong, right?” Shoto tries to recall some conversations they’ve had over their year-long journey together. They’ve talked about a lot so it’s difficult to remember full details about a stranger he’s only just now seeing for the first time.

“He is.”

The spar doesn’t continue for much longer. They observe the shinobi and his own fighting style which mainly revolves around spinning kicks and constantly moving around your opponent. It’s not a controlled fighting style like the Hyuga’s Gentle Fist or the Teshin’s Empty Hand but it’s not wild like Genzai’s fighting style from today.

“So how was your day, dear?” Asami asks.

“It was normal. Nothing really… that… different.” Well, not entirely true. Shoto whips around to look at their guest again. “Lady Hanabi, you want to practice against multiple styles, correct?”

Hanabi raises a brow. “Yes, that’s correct.“

“So you’re familiar with every fighting style in the Hidden Leaf?”

“To an extent. Many within the Leaf don’t practice a particular style as our clans do. There’s certain techniques the Hidden Leaf teaches, which Rock Lee and his teacher Might Guy have mastery over but many simply follow a standard form of taijutsu.”

“What about the Sarutobi clan’s taijutsu?”

Hanabi cocks her head. “Sarutobi? They don’t really have a specific taijutsu as far as I’m aware, although some definitely have an unorthodox fighting style. I presume that comes from their clan summons, and many take after them. Some take after them too much, being arrogant, obnoxious, far more in-your-face than any reasonable person should, and loud. So very loud.” Hanabi grows exasperated.

“That… sounds really specific.” Shoto wonders if he somehow struck a nerve.

Hanabi clears her throat and composes herself. “Either way, their taijutsu comes more from their relationship with their Monkey summoning contract. Are you… asking for any particular reason?”

“What do you have on your mind, Shoto?” Asami asks.

A male voice breaks their conversation. “Yet another outrageous notion, I presume.” Itosuke approaches the three of them, with Rock Lee following closely behind.

“You’ve finished your spar?” Asami stands to assist her husband with getting dried off.

“We have indeed.” Lee flashes a grin and a thumbs up. “It was a most fruitful spar. I’ve learned much from our time, Itosuke-sensei.”

Itosuke laughs. “I’d say I was the one who learned today.”

Shoto focuses on his father for a moment. Seeing his more lighthearted demeanor and friendly interaction with people not of the clan… He’s a completely different person from just 2 years ago, when he refused to even consider others as worth the time. What he said is true, he’s also learning, and the results are showing.

Shoto stands up and bows to their guests. “It is an honour to meet you. I’m Shoto Teshin.”

Lee returns the bow. “Rock Lee, the honour is mine. You’re Naruto and Hinata’s disciple, yes? And Itosuke-sensei and Asami-sensei’s son.”

“I am, sir.”

Lee grins. “You’ve many strong people placing their hopes on your, Shoto Teshin.”

“I’ll do my best not to disappoint.” Shoto reaffirms.

Hanabi stands up, straightening her robes. “Well then, I believe it’s time for me to head home. I’ve taken up too much of your day already.”

“Nonsense.” Asami reassures her. “It was our pleasure to host you today. You’re welcome to the Shorin-ryu dojo at any time.”

“I shall head out, as well!” Lee stretches. “I’m yet to do my 1000 laps around the village!”

Hanabi chuckles. “You still intend to continue training?”

“Of course!” Lee grips his fist, prepared to give a speech. “Training never stops. If at any point you feel you can better yourself, then you should do it. No questions about it. That is how I’ve lived my life and how I intend to live it. Would you like to join, Hanabi?”

She waves her hands dismissively. “I believe my own training is done for the day. I’ve clan matters to attend to.”

“Then let us be on our way! Itosuke-sensei, Asami-sensei, Shoto, we shall meet again!”

Both Lee and Hanabi bow before heading toward the front door together. Just as they open and step out, Shoto runs up to them. Or more specifically, up to Rock Lee.

Itosuke and Asami share a look. He’s definitely got something planned.

“Um, excuse me!” Shoto calls out. “Would you… would you teach me? The Hidden Leaf style.”

“Oh?” Lee raises a bushy brow. “An eager learner, huh? But you already have teachers, don’t you?”

“I do but to make my taijutsu stronger, I need to evolve it. I need to learn more and make it brand new so it can be a proper taijutsu for a shinobi, and for that I need to find a style that works with our Empty Hand. Naruto-shisho and Hinata-shisho are strong but their taijutsu is too different. Please.” Shoto bows.

Hanabi smirks. “So that’s why you were asking about the Leaf’s styles. Jiriki get under your skin?”

“Well, there’s that but a lot of other things, too.” Shoto looks up, anticipating his answer.

After a moment of contemplation, Lee gives a thumbs up. “Who am I to refuse such an eagerness to improve? If you wish to learn, then be prepared to become the strongest you could possibly be! I will not go easy on you just because you are Naruto’s disciple!”

“I wouldn’t dream of it!” Shoto beams.

“Then let us start!” Lee declares.

“... Um… now?”

“Of course! What better time to start learning than right now! If the passion is there then you must act while the fires of your youth are burning bright!”

“Oh, uh…” Shoto looks around in a panic, “Just one minute!” and runs off to the main house to leave behind his things and get a change of clothes.

Itosuke approaches, with Asami next to him, sighing. “That boy… He’s gone and done it again. You don’t need to humor him.”

Hanabi laughs. “I can see why my sister and Naruto took such a liking to him. He’s got guts.”

“And he used to be such a reserved boy.” Asami muses. “Now he’s asking everyone left and right to train him. I apologize for the inconvenience.” She bows to Lee.

“Eagerness to learn is nothing that needs apologizing. I shall take him under my youthful wing and help him grow to the best of my abilities.”

“We should go and have a conversation with him.” Asami looks to her husband who nods in agreement. That boy is slowly but surely becoming a handful.

“We should.” Itosuke bows to their two guests and they take their leave, following their son inside.

Now just the two of them, Hanabi turns to Lee.“You’re taking up a lot of responsibility. In addition to opening your own dojo and taking in disciples, you’ve also agreed to help me train for the Chunin Exams. Do you have the time?”

“Of course I do. I’m not only teaching, but also learning how to teach and learning how to navigate this new stage of my life. It is crucial that I push myself to become stronger. It’s not just Shoto who wishes to grow.”

Hanabi smiles. “You really are as Neji described you. I had my doubts a person existed that would earn so much of his praise.”

Lee smiles as he looks up to the darkening sky. “It’s for him that I push myself. I spent most of my Genin career trying to catch up to him as a fellow taijutsu user but now I need to catch up to him as a person, as well.”

“That’s what I want, too. Just... don’t let that overtake who you are.”

Lee tilts his head in confusion. “In what way?”

“Neji… he always had a lot of things on his mind. Whether it was when he was young and hated us from the main branch or when he grew older and we became closer, he was always thinking on a grander scale. He never stopped to think about his own life, about what he wants as a person rather than as a part of a bigger whole.”

Lee pats her on the shoulder. “That’s surprisingly insightful, Hanabi. Thank you.”

At this point, Shoto comes rushing back to them with a change of clothes. “I’m ready!”

“Alright then!” Lee’s voice booms. “Let’s begin with 1000 handstand laps around the village!” He flips over to stand on his hands and begins walking into the village.

Shoto stares for a few seconds. “Wait, what?”

Hanabi chuckles and pats him on the head. “Good luck. You’re going to need it.”

_ Hyuga clan district _

Returning back home, Hanabi passes through the common training grounds for the Hyuga clan before going directly to her father. There, she spots many Hyuga, from both the main and the side branches, practicing their form, including one of the most promising youths- Jiriki Hyuga.

She remains for a few minutes, observing the instructors giving commands and leading by example. Some lag behind and don’t shift their position quick enough, others get the directions wrong. It’s something they’ll get the hang of with time.

She recalls a time when such mistakes were inexcusable, when a simple verbal reprimand wasn’t enough. Her mistakes had to sink in to ensure that she never repeats them. That led to a very disjointed familiar bond. She never knew the traditional warmth of a parent and she never got close to her own sister until just a couple years ago. Thankfully that’s change a great deal.

The closed off nature of the Hyuga is slowly coming to an end.

“Lady Hanabi?” Jiriki slowly approaches her, bowing deeply at the clan heiress. “May I ask you a question?” His head remains lowered.

“Of course, Jiriki. Come sit with me.” She pats the wooden boards by her side.

“Ah, no, I’d never.” The boy becomes flustered. If any of his classmates saw how meek he is right now, that would ruin his entire image. “Is it true you spent the day with the Teshin clan?”

“I did.” She cocks her head and smirks. “Do you not approve?”

Jiriki jumps back. “I-I’d never think to judge!” He blurts out quickly to try and defend himself. “It’s-It’s just…” Hanabi patiently waits for him to speak his mind. “Is there anything for us to learn from them? We’re one of the oldest clans with traditions spanning hundreds of years that have kept us one of the strongest. Why learn from others when we’ve more than enough skill and knowledge.”

Hanabi sighs. “I’m sorry that mentality’s been thrust into you, Jiriki. There’s many things we can learn. Some of the strongest and most powerful people were the ones who didn’t shun others and welcome change with open arms.” She stands up and pats him on the shoulder as she passes by him. “You might be surprised how much you can learn from Shoto.”

Jiriki grumbles. “I doubt it.”


	45. Academy Days IV - Preparations

**ACADEMY DAYS IV - PREPARATIONS**

Life in the Hidden Leaf goes on as normal. People walk down the streets, going about their days, running errands, shopping, going to work. What they don't know is that the shinobi of the village are currently on a mission.

Kiba and Akamaru are on the hunt. The Inuzuka has changed some over the years- now sporting a light goatee and slightly longer swept back hair. Over his flak jacket he wears a grey fur coat, with the most notable addition being a band on his arm designated his current status as a member The Leaf Police Force.

An organization that spent some time being a shadow of its former self, although its former self wasn't exactly all sunshine, either. Tsunade made sure to rebuild it as an institution that could help the villagers, mainly the civilians, of the Hidden Leaf have people they can safely turn to to aid them. It'll take time to wash away the image it'd gotten from when the Uchiha led it. For one, now no one clan is in charge of it. In fact, it's now no longer just shinobi who are a part of it. They're still the majority but normal people have been allowed to join to keep the peace within the walls.

Such peace involves making sure their security measures are up to standards, which involves working with the other organizations of the Leaf.

"Kiba, turn left, down the alley." Ino gives him directions from his earpiece.

He doesn't respond verbally but presses a button on his device which sends a signal back to base that he's received the instructions.

This current mission involves searching for foreign presences. The Sensory team keep an eye out, or maybe 'a mind out' would be a better term, and the Police Force are sent to investigate. Of course, since this is a tial, they're currently chasing after fellow Leaf shinobi who are trying to hide from the Sensory unit.

Kiba nods to Akamaru, signaling him to take a different route. Thanks to their enhanced senses, they can keep tabs on each other and know the other's locations to better coordinate a pincer maneuver.

"Forty paces in front of you."

He taps the device again to give an affirmative. When you're tracking someone who doesn't want to be tracked, you have to keep your noise to a minimum.

Kiba approaches a man hanging in the alley, leaning against the wall. When the man sees Kiba come around the corner, he immediately makes a run for it, pushing containers and trash cans to block the path. Why do alleys have these just lying around, ready to be pushed? Before he can get too far, a giant bear of a white dog jumps on him and bites his arm.

Barely a second after, Kiba is on him with a kunai to his throat.

The man smiles, "Excellently done." and in a puff of smoke, his appearance changes.

Sai pats Akamaru on the head and the dog lets go of his arm. Kiba offers a hand which is readily taken.

"I'd thought I disguised my chakra well." Sai brushes the dust from his clothes.

"You did." Ino's voice draws their attention to the roof above them, where she's sitting over the edge cross-legged. "I'm just better." She smirks.

Kiba chuckles. "You sure do like bragging. Well, I'll admit you made an easy job a little easier. Akamaru and mine's noses would've done the task just fine."

Ino wags her finger. "Keep dreaming, pal."

"It's only with our combined efforts that we can really keep the village safe. The Sensory team, the Police Force, and ANBU. There's no need to fight amongst ourselves when we're working toward the same thing." Sai places a hand on Kiba's shoulder to act as a mediator.

Kiba stares at him for a moment before sighing. "You really sucked the fun outta that."

Ino laughs, "Don't worry, I'll trash talk you later." and hops down to the ground with them.

Sai looks confused between the two of them. "I thought those would instill teamwork and camaraderie between our teams. Was that... not the right time?"

"The words were good, Sai, but we already know, don't worry." Kiba lightly fistbumps him on the chest.

"Hm, I see." Sai scratches his chin. "I'll need to work on that some more, it seems."

"Don't worry, you'll get there." Ino reassures him.

"That will, however, have to wait. We've still many precautions and trainings to do until the Chunin Exams." Sai nods to both of them before Flickering away to continue his work.

Ino gives a heavy sigh. "I should go, too. Have some time to spare before the clan meeting. So much to do, so little time."

When she turns around to head out of the alley they'd found themselves in, Kiba reaches over to gently grab her by the arm.

"Hey, hold on. We finally got some time to ourselves. Can't we just… take a break for a couple minutes." He pleads.

Ino smiles and steps closer to him. She places a hand on his cheek and kisses him on the lips. "I know. I want to spend more time, too, but there's so much to do right now."

Kiba presses his forehead against hers. "There'll be a lot to do for a while. We still have a month of prep and then like a month when all the most important people will be in the village for the Exams."

Ino laughs. "You're really cute when you get needy."

"Wha- I'm- I'm not needy!" Kiba takes a step back, his face flushed red. "I'm just, you know, asking if maybe you want a break. I don't care."

Akamaru whines at his master and friend's weak attempt.

"Uh huh. Sure. Don't worry, handsome, when we get some free time, it'll be a time to remember." She winks and continues her previously halted exit. "For now, look forward to it." She very purposefully sways her hips until she steps out into the streets. "I'll tell your mom you said hi."

"Don't bring up my mother after that!" Kiba whines.

Akamaru cocks his head at Kiba. "Awoo?"

"Shuddup."

* * *

_Nara household_

Having spent the day in relative leisure, it's time for Temari to get ready for the big meeting.

It's still a month but there's many things they need to prepare for. The Shinobi Union, which she is a Hidden Sand representative of here in the Hidden Leaf, is going to host probably the biggest Chunin Exams yet. The five villages that are already part of the Union are going to participate, as are many of the smaller nations that wish to become a part of this new world order.

The Hidden Rain, Grass, Waterfall, Mountain, Frost, and Star Villages have always been reluctant allies to the great nations during wars, as they didn't really have a choice but to agree to support a side, lest they face two enemy forces rather than one. Now, things are to be different; or that's the plan. Negotiations are pending. That's actually what the Chunin Exams are for- to foster good will.

Temari sighs as she puts on her Sand flak jacket over her usual black dress. ' _We've just figured out the Shinobi Union and it's already expanding.'_ With a final adjustment of her clothes, she puts on her headband. ' _Barely had time to figure things out with just the five nations, now we're more than doubling our numbers.'_ She laments the difficulty of the task ahead of them before taking a long look at herself in the mirror in her room. "This is gonna be such a dr-" She stops herself before she can finish that sentence. Shaking her head, she heads out the room with a quickened step. "I've been spending too much time here."

When the Shinobi Union was formed and each village sent a single representative to live in the allied villages, they all aimed to ensure they feel as at home as they could given the circumstances. That involved a sort of 'adoption' one could say. The representatives would live in with a clan or family chosen by the host village. Temari, for all her luck, was set to live with the Nara clan, which meant having to see Shikamaru a whole lot. Fun.

She makes her way to the kitchen where her host has prepared a meal for her. One set out in a plate for her to eat now before going out, and another already placed in a bento box and wrapped for later consumption.

Temari shakes her head and looks at Yoshino Nara who's cleaning the cutlery used to make this meal. "Seriously, you don't have to go through all this trouble for me."

Yoshino turns her head and laughs. "Hah, nonsense. You might be a big shot in your village but I'm a mother and as long as you're under this roof, you're a child that I'll care for. Now eat up, you'll need your energy."

Temari chuckles. "Yes, ma'am."

She sits and begins eating. All in all, the situation isn't all bad. Yoshino is a presence that she never had the chance to know- a caring but strict parent. Well, the strict part is something she's familiar with, although she's nowhere near what her father was and she's only strict with her own lazy son. But she _is_ caring and treats her well.

It's… nice.

"I still feel bad for you doing all of this for me. Just please tell me how I can be of help." Temari's never been one for gifts. If she's done a favour, she has to return it. Owing people leads to nothing good from her experience.

"Hm." Yoshino thinks for a moment. "You could go ahead and ask my moron of a son out."

Temari chokes on her food.

"Honestly, that boy's too much like his father." The older woman laments. "He's not going to make the first move, you know. He needs a stronger woman to get him to his senses."

Temari hits her chest to clear her airways. "I, uh, Ishouldprobablygothankyou." She snatches the bento box from the table and rushes out, trying to hide her flushed cheeks.

"Kids." Yoshino laughs and continues washing the dishes. "They'll get there."

* * *

_Akimichi household_

Over at the Akimichis, a more or less similar sight is unfolding. Karui was assigned to live with the renowned clan and has been adjusting to her new life here slowly but surely. For one, everything is a bit larger than average. That's even a dig at their size and weight, the Akimichi are just naturally taller than most, towering over many other shinobi she's seen.

The Raikage and Bee are tall and bulky but even they look small compared to these people. So naturally the doorways are bigger, the beds are bigger, tables, chairs. It's not a jarring difference but it's definitely there and it takes some getting used to.

Having just finished eating, Choza cleans his mouth with a napkin and stands. "I've got some errands to run before the meeting, so I'll be heading out." He leans down to kiss his wife and hugs his son. "I'll see you there, Karui." He finally addresses their guests.

"Yes, sir."

"You've all been pretty busy lately, huh?" Choji notes.

Karui leans back in her chair, her plate also now empty. "There's a lot to prepare. It's an important time for all of us so we have to be at our best."

"It's really commendable work you're all doing. You, Shikamaru, Ino, you've all found clear goals you're working to."

"Well, it's the same for you, right? You're the heir to your clan, that's a lot of responsibility."

Choji shrugs. "Yeah, but that's still a long ways away. Until then, I can just do what I've been doing so far."

Karui stands up and pats him on the back. "It's good work that needs doing. You're a Jonin of the Hidden Leaf. A lot rests on you, Akimichi, don't be hard on yourself."

"Hah, thanks."

With that, Karui goes to get ready herself for the day. Choji gets up just after her to go about his own day of doing missions.

* * *

_Hokage building_

It's still early. The meeting doesn't start for another half hour at least but Ino finished early so barring anything else to do, she decided to make her way here. Kiba's still busy with other tasks so they don't exactly have time to themselves.

There's probably no one here right now so she'll spend this time to get some needed rest and relaxation, the little she can get right now. Today's meeting's going to involve practically everyone. The Leaf council, the clan leaders, _and_ the Shinobi Union representatives are to take part in discussions and preparations for the upcoming Exams, to talk over everyone's responsibilities and expectations for what's to come.

One quick change made to the meeting room is the seating arrangement. For clan meetings it's a rectangular table with the clan leaders split evenly on each side. For today, a new table was placed- a very large semi-circle with everyone facing toward a single desk, designated for the Hokage.

When she opens the door to the meeting room, however, she's met by an unexpected sight. Alone in the room, Naruto is sitting cross-legged on his designated chair, his new orange cloak hanging to the side.

"Yo!" Naruto greets her.

Ino furrows her brows. "Naruto? What're you doing here this early?" Has he become more diligent? It'd only be natural given his new responsibilities.

"Ah, well, I got the time wrong. I thought we were supposed to be here an hour ago." He scratches his cheek with an embarrassed smile.

"... Yeah, that makes more sense." She laughs and sits on the chair next to him, the one designated for the head of the Hyuga clan. "How're you and Hinata doing? We haven't really talked a lot lately."

"Yeah, guess not. We're doin' good, trying to get the hang of… everything. Who knew having a clan was so hard? How do you do it?"

"With a lot of help." Ino sighs. "I don't know what I would've done without uncle Choza helping me out."

"I get what you mean. Awaji sometimes acts more like clan head than me." Naruto chuckles. "But Fusuma's given a lotta help."

"Fusuma Senju, huh? Guess they're trying to build themselves up, just like the Uzumaki. Things aren't like they used to be."

"Pretty much. It's been rough for everyone, y'know? So we gotta help each other out when we can." He grins and holds up his fist to her. "That counts for the Yamanaka, too."

"Of course." Ino smiles and lightly bumps his fist with her own. "You know, I still can't wrap my head around all this. You as a clan head. Who would've thought?"

Naruto laughs. "Hey, I'm the most surprised one here. It's been a helluva journey but… all in all, I'm glad with where we got."

"Hah, look at you being all optimistic. That's why so many people put their trust in you." She leans back in the chair and giggles. "Even call you the Redeemer."

"Wait, what?" He stares at her. "The… Redeemer? What's that supposed to be?!"

"Like a nickname." She shrugs. "It fits you to a T."

"... HOW?" He complains.

"Well, how many people have you redeemed? The main reason the Hidden Rain is going to join the Union even though their leader is former Akatsuki is because of her connection to you. Then we have the well known criminals and former servants of Orochimaru- Guren of the Crystal Style, Gozu the Mud Wall, Jugo of the Scales, and Karin. Don't even get me started with Sasuke. That's a grand total of 6 criminals redeemed thanks to you." Ino shrugs.

"I don't wanna get stuck with a nickname like that!"

Ino thinks for a moment. "Naruto the Merciful?"

"That's somehow even worse." He whines "Why can't I have a cool like the Yellow Flash or the White Fang or something?"

Ino taps her chin in contemplation. "The Leaf's Orange Mercy?"

Naruto grumbles and slams his head on the desk in front of him.

Ino pats him on the back as she laughs. "There, there. It's not all bad! It means people trust you. It's a good thing." She says, but his reaction is too funny so her continued laughter doesn't help.

The doors open, interrupting their conversation. Shikamaru and Kakashi enter the room, carrying a fairly large stack of folders and clipboards.

Shikamaru looks past his cargo to see who's in the room. "Oh, hey, you two."

Kakashi smiles from under his mask. "Coming to the meeting so much earlier than needed. So diligent. It warms my old heart."

Naruto looks up from his position on the table, giving a light smile. "You're not even close to old, sensei."

"If you feel old now, just wait until the little one is born." Ino comments.

"Don't remind me. I'm already not sure I'm juggling everything." Kakashi shakes his head and approaches the table, placing down the stacks he was carrying. "What's with him?" He points to Naruto.

"He's not happy with his uncool nickname." Ino giggles.

"The Redeemer?" Shikamaru asks as he puts down his own stack.

Naruto jumps up from his seat. "You know about that, too?!"

"Almost everyone does." Kakashi notes as he passes a folder to both Naruto and Ino. "You didn't know?"

"Man, nobody tells me anything." Naruto grabs the folder he was handed. "What's this?"

Shikamaru answers as he places a folder in front of each empty chair. "Topics of discussion for today. Things to go over, things to do in the coming month, that kinda thing. One thing not covered is how much Hiashi Hyuga doesn't like people in his chair." He makes an off-handed remark to his friend and teammate.

Ino takes the hint and hops off. "Yeah, guess we're going to get full soon." She quickly goes back to her own seat on the opposite side of the long table.

Among the first to arrive is Temari, here to represent the Hidden Sand. She walks in with a quickened step and flustered expression, which only become quicker and more flustered when she sees Shikamaru.

"Hey." He greets her.

"Shut up, don't talk to me." She heads directly to her chair and hides behind the folder placed there.

Shikamaru stares "... What'd I do this time?" He sighs. "What a drag."

"Oh?" Ino leans forward and gives a devilish smirk. ' _Well, now…'_

Soon enough the room begins being filled with everyone of import for the meeting. The five Shinobi Union representatives which includes the Hidden Leaf's Hinata Hyuga who passes by Naruto, giving him a light squeeze on the shoulder trying to remain professional in the setting.

The clan leaders take their seats, with Hiashi Hyuga stopping to stare at his own for an uncomfortable period of time. Naruto and Ino try to remain perfectly still and not give away anything. Without a word, Hiashi sits down and the two blondes share a relieved look.

The elders, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.

The ANBU captain, Yamato.

The Police Force captain, Gaku Inuzuka.

The leader of the Sensory Unit, Santa Yamanaka.

The leader of the Torture and Interrogation Force, Ibiki Morino.

The interim leader of the Medical Unit, Sakura Haruno.

The younger generation who spent time together in the Academy greet each other from their places, trying not to bring too much attention to themselves. After all, the people around them are elites and veterans with much more experience than them. They've been in meetings like this plenty of times and know proper conduct. Of course, there's one person not affected by such thoughts. Naruto happily and eagerly waves to Sakura as she enters, although picks up from Hiashi's stern look to… just not.

Two presences that probably no one expected arrive along with the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade.

One is more of a welcome presence, one Awaji Uzumaki. An elder from back when the Hidden Whirlpool Village was alive and active, at the peak of its strength. He's already made a name for himself within the Hidden Leaf and his expertise is welcome and appreciated by all.

The other presence, however, causes a bit of a stir. People just still aren't used to having Sasuke Uchiha around. Oddly enough, one person seemingly not surprised by him being here is Naruto. The others expected him to have the biggest reaction of them all but he's oddly calm about it.

Tsunade takes her seat, with Awaji and Sasuke standing right behind her.

"I see we're all present. Good." She takes a look at the folder in front of her and pushes it to the side. "Before we begin, there's something that was brought to my attention that merits yours, as well. Sasuke." She looks to the young man to her left. "Tell them what you told me."

He nods and steps forward. "After the Uchiha massacre, Obi-" He stops mid-sentence and looks at his former sensei who remains as unreadable as ever. " _Tobi_ took all of the Sharingan with him, no doubt to keep them out of the hands of Danzo Shimura. He hid them in a remote location called Mountain's Graveyard, deep within the Land of Woods. An year ago I went back to retrieve them for safe-keeping, only to be met by the leader of the Hidden Mountain Village, Kaidomaru Sakata, and an entourage."

"So he knew about the place?" Shikamaru asks. "Did he always know and was in on… everything?"

"That, I can't answer. But he did have extensive knowledge, knowledge that no one else seems to know. He was able to completely nullify my Sharingan's abilities, he spoke as if he's aware of secrets the Sharingan possesses that I've been unable to find out about."

Awaji steps forward. "However, there may be a hint as to what these secrets are. When I travelled to the ruins of the Hidden Whirlpool along with Naruto, Hinata, and young Kiri," he motions to all three people, "we found that the secret behind the sealing and unsealing of the Great Beasts lies within the Uzumaki and holders of two bloodlines that can see what can not be seen. The Sharingan and the Byakugan."

Kakashi intertwines his fingers. "So you're saying that Kaidomaru Sakata knows about this Great Beast threat."

"I can only speculate that his apparent knowledge coincides with ours."

Tsunade interjects. "It's also possible coincidence simply overlapped and that paints him in a worse light. However, with no better leads as of yet, that is what we should assume." She nods to Kakashi in confirmation.

Hiashi stands up from his seat. "So if that's what we're to believe and Sakata knows about the Great Beasts, that means he took the Sharingan because he needs them for whatever it is he needs them. If your words are true, Elder Awaji, then does that not mean he would require the Byakugan, as well as the Sharingan? How could we justify allowing him into our village if he has such ambitions?"

"I fully understand your worries, Hiashi, and they've been discussed." Tsunade motions for him to sit down. "However, we still don't know what the purpose is behind releasing the Great Beasts, what the goals and ambitions are of these people, whether or not it's Kaidomaru Sakata and the Hidden Mountain. If we reveal our hands, we might force them to act before we have a full picture and if we want a full picture, we need to allow him some freedom. He will be monitored closely, of that I can assure you."

Temari sighs. "If they do join the Shinobi Union, that would also give access to how we operate and how we intend to move. It's not something to scoff at."

"Precisely." Tsunade nods. "That's why we have to be prepared, and it's what we're going to figure out today. Together." She makes sure to meet everyone's gaze, making it clear this is not an issue where they're only going to hear the final word. This is an issue where everyone will have a word, if they're to succeed. "Sasuke." She turns her head to face him.

From just his name being spoken, he gets the hint. He's an alien presence to his room. He's done his duty so now it's time to let the Hidden Leaf handle it from here. He lightly bows his head and turns to leave.

"Remain here." Tsunade orders. "We're going to need everyone. Elder Awaji, you, as well."

Surprised, Sasuke stays motionless, having already prepared to leave and unsure if he actually does belong here. Well, orders and orders. He takes a step back to where he previously was by the Hokage's desk since… there's not actually anywhere else for him to go. Not like there's empty seats lying around. Feels weird being here after everything, though.

It's only then that Tsunade takes the folder that was left for her and opens now. "Now then, we have a month to prepare for the Chunin Exams. Great Beasts or not, we still have work to do."

At this point, an ANBU appears in front of the Hokage's desk, interrupting the meeting.

"What's the meaning of this?" Yamato demands.

"My apologies. Lady Hokage, we've received news from the Land of Woods. A Great Beast attacked a town not far from the Hidden Mountain Village."

"What?" She slams her hands on the desk, standing to her feet. "What happened?"

"We don't have the full details, ma'am, but it appeared from a gate as previous reports stated and began rampaging. By the time shinobi arrived, the town was already destroyed."

"Which one was it?" Naruto asks.

"Reports say it appeared to be a humanoid turtle." The man answers.

Kurama growls within the shared mindspace. " _ **The Kappa again.**_ "

The ANBU continues his report. "Kaidomaru Sakata and shinobi from the Hidden Mountain Village drove it back, suffering heavy casualties."

Tsunade sits back down and bites her nail in frustration. "Well, there goes that thought."

Sasuke stares at the ANBU, deep in thought. ' _Or maybe not…'_ The ANBU misinterprets his stare as anger and quickly excuses himself, leaving the room with new information to process.

* * *

_Hakone Town, Land of Woods_

Kaidomaru Uzumaki walks through the wreckage of what was once a town acting as the final resting point to the Hidden Mountain Village. He goes over the destruction caused by the attack, checking for any survivors and salvaging what they can.

Shinobi from the Hidden Mountain are present, as well, assisting the local authorities where they can.

When alone, he's approached by Mizushi Osui and Kikyo Uzumaki, two of his trusted allies.

Kikyo looks over the destruction. "Was this necessary?"

"Sadly, yes." Kaidomaru answers without hesitation.

"Sasuke Uchiha knows. You were there." Mizushi adds. "He's no doubt already revealed what he saw and they have their suspicions."

"Now, we are also victims of this new threat and the wounds will still be fresh by the Chunin Exams." Kaidomaru hops down some of the rubble below. "Their sacrifice will not go unappreciated. These are the preparations we must suffer to achieve what we want."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trivia
> 
> Hakone is a town in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It's close to Mt. Ashigara, the birthplace of Sakata no Kintoki and the namesake for the mountain the Hidden Mountain Village rests on.
> 
> Just for fun, according to a dictionary search, the nicknames Ino gave Naruto would be:  
> Naruto the Redeemer (贖い主, Aganainushi no Naruto)  
> Naruto the Merciful (慈悲深いのきナルト, Jihibukai no Naruto)  
> The Leaf's Orange Mercy (木ノ葉のオレンジ慈悲, Konoha no Orenji Jihi)  
> The translations could be wrong, though.
> 
> Author's Notes
> 
> I've always adored KibaIno as a pairing. He's loud and kind of arrogant, and she's a no-nonsense type that would call him out on his bs. That's why many people pair Naruto with Sakura or Temari or even Ino herself and it works, and Kiba is essentially like Naruto.
> 
> ChoKarui will remain canon, because… I don't really have a better pairing for Choji so why not. This system of the representatives living like a student exchange program is how I explain them meeting and getting close enough to become a couple.


	46. Academy Days V - Shinobi Union 1

**ACADEMY DAYS V - SHINOBI UNION I**

* * *

_Uzumaki household_

Konohamaru jumps in one place as a warm-up, loosening up his arms as he does. “Alright, big day’s near! You’re gonna cheer me on, right, Bro?”

Naruto laughs from his spot on the sofa. “Of course I will. I know you’re gonna knock ‘em dead.”

“Are you nervous?” Kotori asks.

“Hah! Me, nervous?” He puffs out his chest. “Of course not! I got nothing to fear. I’m the heir to the Sarutobi clan, one of the founding clans of the Leaf! Ain’t no one can match me.”

Kotori lightly pouts. “Is it really that impressive to be heir? Everyone talks about it- you, Kashiwama… Does that make you stronger?”

“Well, I mean, not really, but we have to keep up our image, you know? We’re not just fighting for ourselves but the whole clan, our family. And now that includes you, too!” Konohamaru grins.

Kotori tilts her head. “It does?”

“Yeah! You’re bro’s family and bro’s my bro so you’re… my… sis?”

Hinata walks up to the table, placing down a mug in front of Konohamaru. “I think ‘niece’ is the proper term, although that’s not entirely correct in this scenario, either.” She then sits down with Naruto and Kotori on the sofa.

Naruto scratches his head. “Yeah, it’s not exactly a normal thing we have going here.”

“Either way, you’re family now. So watch me real close at the exams, okay? I’m gonna show you how you become Chunin! Take notes when you take the Exams.”

Kotori eagerly nods. “We’ll cheer you on!”

“I know you will.” He then squints at Hinata. “But someone here has... conflicting allegiances.”

“Pardon?” Hinata cocks her head in confusion, silky hair sliding down her shoulder. “Oh, you mean Hanabi?”

“Yeah, I mean… _her_.” He doesn’t even want to say her name. “If we end up fighting at the Exams, who’re you gonna root for?”

Hinata gives a warm smile. “You’ve both grown to be such strong and capable shinobi. I want both of you to succeed and keep growing.”

Konohamaru throws his arms up. “See, that’s what I mean! You’re too nice, you know.”

“Lay off it, Konohamaru.” Naruto laughs. “She’s awesome, is what she is.”

“... You’ve changed.” Konohamaru judges.

A knock on the door interrupts their moment.

“I’ll get it!” Kotori hops off and opens the door to be met by Karin.

“Hey, kid. Your... dad here?” Karin still has trouble referring to these two as father and daughter, given their difference is only 10 years. Hardly enough for a parental connection but, hey, they seem to be making it work.

“Yeah.” She turns back to the room to call out, “It’s Karin!” She opens the door wider to allow Karin to enter if she wants to. She doesn’t seem to.

Naruto stands up from his spot and goes to see why his cousin’s come. “Hey, Karin. What’s up?”

“The other villages should be arriving any time now. If you want to meet them, you should get going.”

“Thanks, Karin!”

Hearing the news, Hinata also stands up. “We should go meet them now. The other Union representatives should be there already.”

“Yeah.” Naruto nods and quickly goes back to don his orange cloak before he and Hinata make their way outside.

Konohamaru and Kotori follow suite.

“Do you think Mutsu is gonna come?” Kotori asks.

“Dunno.” Naruto shrugs. “Maybe?”

Hinata brushes Kotori’s hair into a less messy state. “I’m sure Mutsu insisted on coming with the Hidden Rain.”

“Why’re going to meet them, anyway?” Konohamaru asks with a dark hint to his voice. “That woman… she atta-”

“I know, Konohamaru.” Naruto cuts him off. “But it’s all different now. For all of us, not just the Hidden Rain. That’s the whole point the Union’s a thing.”

“Yeah, but still…” Konohamaru hangs his head.

Hinata pats the younger boy on the back. “I can promise you things have changed for the better. All nations have bad history with each other, but we’re moving past it. It’s still taking time to get used to it all.”

“I’ll try not to think about it.”

“Alright, let’s go.” Naruto Flickers ahead, followed by Hinata and Kotori, and Karin going with in case her skills are needed.

Konohamaru Flickers into a different direction, leaving them to do their own thing.

* * *

_Hidden Leaf main gates_

‘Crowd’ wouldn’t really be the correct term but there definitely is a very large gathering at the gates. It’s only natural the village would want to give the best greeting possible, given that some of the most powerful and most influential people in the shinobi world are set to all arrive today.

The Five Kage, plus members of a multitude of smaller villages which will potentially double the size of the Shinobi Union. A momentous occasion, indeed.

Naturally, the representatives of the Union are there, ready to meet their fellow villagers after spending some time away. Everyone who’s anyone in the Leaf has gathered with them, be it for professional or personal reasons.

Two figures in particular stand atop one of the taller roofs that overlook the main gates. Sasuke is sitting down on the tiles, observing, while Sakua stands next to him.

“I didn’t think you’d be interested in this.” Sakura notes.

“I’m not.” Sasuke corrects her. “I just want to see how this’ll all go down.”

“I think that could be defined as being interested, but sure.”

“Maybe. I don’t know, I just… wanted to watch. Why are _you_ up here, anyway?” He looks up at her. “Shouldn’t you be down there, as a head of the Medical unit?”

“ _Temporary_ head, until Shizune comes back from maternity leave.” This time she corrects him. “I’ll go down when I have to. It’s not like we all have to hound at the gates in anticipation.”

“Speaking of hounding…” Sasuke looks around. “I would’ve thought he’d be here by now.”

“Who?” Sakura cocks her head.

“Hey, you two!” An orange blur materializes next to them on the roof, followed by a lavender one.

“Sasuke, Sakura.” Hinata gives them a courteous head bow.

“Yeah, there he is.” Sasuke sighs.

“Aw, you missed me?” Naruto teases.

Sasuke shakes his head. “Grow up.” His light chuckles betrays his admonishing words.

“I’m going to join the representatives in waiting.” Hinata moves to the edge of the roof.

Sakura steps towards her. “I’ll join you. It can get overwhelming down there.” She shudders.

Sasuke raises a brow. “So that’s why you were up here…”

Sakura only grumbles in response.

The two young women both Flicker down to join the welcoming party. They’re soon joined by another Naruto, Karin, and Kotori. Sasuke watches as the Naruto below poofs out of existence, leaving the girls alone. Karin is very clearly and deliberately keeping her back to the rooftop the boys are on.

Sasuke keeps watching them as he talks to Naruto. “Is Karin still…”

“Yeah.” Naruto doesn’t really need to hear the end of the question. “It’s… a lot to go through. She needs more time.”

“At least she has you. A new family. Same with Jugo. It’s a lot more than I tried to give them.” He sounds somber.

“What, are you contemplating your life?”

“I suppose. Had to do a lot of thinking because of a certain someone.” Sasuke looks at him from the corner of his eye. “I have to make up for so many things. Have a lot of people to do right by.” He focuses his gaze on Sakura.

“You’ll get there. People been accepting of Guren and the rest, they’ll be accepting of you, too.”

“Except that my crimes are a bit too close to home. People like Guren and Jugo are only known by reputation, but the people of the village know me personally. It’s different.”

“Guess we’ll see.” Naruto pats him on the back. “But for now… looks like our guests are arriving.”

The first indication would be the increased commotion, with everyone shifting around into their proper positions to welcome the delegations. For this group, the clear indicator as to their identity are the grains of sand that float through the air.

* * *

_Hidden Sand envoy_

Gaara enters the Leaf fist with his brother and chief advisor, Kankuro, right behind him. They’re followed by a decently sized group of shinobi, with some very visibly being Genin, lacking the typical uniform.

Tsunade steps forward, extending a hand. “Lord Kazekage. It’s a pleasure to welcome you.”

“The pleasure is ours, Lady Hokage.” Gaara accepts the handshake.

Kankuro looks around at the mass of people. “The Leaf sure goes all out on its welcoming party, huh?”

“Only the best for our honoured guests.” Tsunade laughs. 

Temari walks to them with a bit of a rush in her step although she tries to play it cool; Shikamaru walks at a much slower place behind her.

“Gaara, Kankuro.” She calls out to them.

Kankuro walks up to his sister and embraces her. “Hey, so you haven’t actually forgotten us.”

“What a dumb thing to think; it hasn’t been that long.” She laughs. “You sure you’re fit to be an advisor?”

Kankuro steps back from the hug and playfully fits her shoulder. “More than, don’t you worry about that.”

Gaara steps towards her, as well, keeping it less personal as he tends to do. “Temari.” He gives a court nod. “It’s good to see you again.”  
  
“You, too.” She smiles back to him.

Kankuro peers over Temari’s shoulder to look at Shikamaru. “You been treating her good, yeah? Not done anything weird to her?” He smirks.

Shikamaru becomes flustered and looks away. “Of course not!”

“You dolt.” Temari smacks him over the head, herself even more flustered than Shikamaru. First Yoshino and now Kankuro… These people…

Gaara, not picking up what Kankuro is throwing, simply nods. “Shikamaru is a respected ally. I trust him wholeheartedly to treat our sister well.”

“Uhh, sure, Gaara.” Kankuro rubs the back of his head where Temari smacked him.

Temari sighs. “Come on, I’ll show you where you guys’ll be staying.”

“Want to come with?” Shikamaru offers.

“No, I got this.” She reassures him. “Besides you have official duties, Chief Advisor.”

With that, she motions for the Sand delegation to follow her.

When Kankuro passes Shikamaru, he leans close and whispers, “Don’t worry, you can spend time with her after we’re gone.”

“Wha- No, that’s not-” Shikamaru’s cheeks turn even redder.

Kankuro laughs as he continues walking.

Shikamaru rubs his face in exasperation. “This is gonna be a drag.”

-x-

A bit behind them, Maki takes the giant scroll off her back, stretching her muscles as she does. “Ahh, finally.” She looks around the foreign village, appreciating the surroundings. “So this is the Hidden Leaf, huh?”

“It’s different from before.” Sen walks up to her, tucking away her tessen fans. “Guess it’s to be expected, with everything that happened.”

“That’s right, you’ve been here before, huh?” Maki turns to the younger kunoichi.

Sen nods. “Yeah, for the Chunin Exams a few years back. Feels like a lifetime ago now…”

“It does.” Another voice joins in their conversation. Ameno walks up to them, with her teammates Shishio and Koji not far behind, themselves absorbed in taking in the scenery. “I’m curious to see just how much has changed.”

“Oh? Got any plans?” Sen asks.

“I do, indeed. I plan to learn everything I possibly can from the Medical Unit. I want to see how the Leaf’s grown in that department and how much I can take back to the Sand.”

“Well, just be sure to stay on your best behavior.” Maki warns. “That goes double for you, Koji!” She calls back to the younger man.

“What?” Koji turns to her. “I haven’t even done anything!”

Sen chuckles. “Not yet, you haven’t.”

Ameno nods. “I presume you’re already thinking of something silly.”

Shishio pats Koji on the back. “Even I have to agree.”  
  
“You, too, man?” Koji slumps his shoulders in defeat.

“Come on, looks like we’re moving.” Maki rounds up some stragglers as Temari begins leading their group further into the village.

Walking along, Ameno does see Sakura a bit further back in the crowd. The two share a nod, and a silent promise to meet each other again when things calm down in the village.

-x-

Naruto hops down from the roof, onto the side of the street, just as the Hidden Sand delegation passes.

Seeing this, Gaara breaks off from his group to walk over to him. “Naruto.” He extends a hand.

Naruto grins and returns the handshake. “It’s good to see ya again.”

“It _has_ been a while since we last met. I’ve received some updates from Temari and Kyodo Uzumaki. It sounds like you’ve been doing well.”

“Kind of.” Naruto rubs the back of his head. “It’s… way different from how I thought my life would be.”

Gaara lightly chuckles. “Now you know how I felt after meeting you.” He notices the delegation waiting for him ahead on the road and decides to cut the meeting short. “We’ll speak again later. I have to attend to my responsibilities.”

“Sure thing! We’ll grab a bowl of ramen, it’ll knock your gourd off.”

“I look forward to it.” Gaara nods and begins walking to his group. After a few steps, he looks up to the man sitting on the rooftop, quietly observing. The two stare at each other for a moment before Gaara speaks. “It’s good to see the light has reached your eyes, Sasuke Uchiha.” 

“Hmpf. Maybe you were onto something after all, Gaara of the Sand.”

Gaara goes on to rejoin his group and continue walking to their accommodations.

* * *

_Hidden Cloud envoys_

The second group to make their way are the loud and boisterous Hidden Cloud shinobi. Even from a fair distance, one voice resonates and booms loud enough to be heard at the gate.

“Know the name, know the face,

Don’t be lame or a disgrace,

The Killer Bee flyin’ through,

Charging right at you, make enough noise for two.

YEAH!

The number’s eight, learn to count,

Or I’ll beat ya to the ground til roots sprout.

‘Cause I’m both a bull and GOAT, I’m that ace,

So know the name and know the face.”

By the end, the Cloud delegation has reached the front gates where Izumo and Kotetsu are standing to welcome them into the village proper. Instead, they both stare in disbelief at the rapping Killer Bee, who’d been leading the group, although it probably was his own choice to do so.

Bee takes a look at both before delivering his final piece.

“Ya fools, ya tools.”

“Don’t mind him.” Ay shakes his head. “Get inside, you fool.”

“Must you treat me so harsh, brotha?” Bee protests. “As family, we should support one another!”

Stepping inside, Ay is also met by Tsunade as the two shake hands. “Raikage, glad you could make it.”

Darui and Cee remain by his side at all times, with Bee being a bit more hectic with his positioning.

“Of course. I wouldn’t miss something this important to our alliance.”

Bee’s eyes focus on one particular spot in front of him- Tsunade’s cleavage. “Definitely wouldn’t miss this.”

Ay knocks him hard over the head. “I told you to show the Hokage proper respect, you dolt!”

Bee yelps in pain. “Brotha…”

“Lord Raikage, Lord Bee!” Karui steps toward them. “It’s good to see you.”

“You, too, Karui.” Ay nods to her.

“Yo! There’s my little student, how’ve you been?” Bee walks up, offering her a fistbump. “Showin’ these fools how we do it Cloud-style?”

“We’ve been showing each other a lot. Come on, I’ll show you where you guys’ll be staying.”

From a distant rooftop, Naruto shouts at the top of his lungs. “Yo, Octopops! Let’s go train somewhere later!”

“You got it, Narubro!” Bee shouts back and raises a fist. “YEAH!”

Tsunade shares a look with Ay. “You keep your brother in check, I’ll keep Naruto.”

Ay nods. “Yeah.”

During this, Omoi walks up to Karui. “Hey, Karui, you remember us, right?”

Samui shakes her head in the back. “I told you…”

Sticking very close behind Samui is a group of three young kunoichi, visibly still Genin, who move wherever she moves.

Karui just stares for a moment. He’s probably going to go on another tangent. “Yeah, why?”

“Oh, good.” Omoi breathes a sigh of relief. “I was worried you’d spent so much time here, you’d forgotten you’re from the Cloud. Maybe life here was so good, you started thinking you always lived here and forgot everything we-” Karui turns around without a word, leading the Cloud shinobi into the village. “Hey, wait up!”

“I both missed you and didn’t miss you.” Karui sighs. “Samui, could you give me a normal update.”

Samui chuckles. “We’ll catch up, don’t worry.”

The three young kunoichi look around the village streets, taking in what they’re seeing.

“Samui-sensei, this village doesn’t look impressive.” One of them states, with the other two nodding in agreement.

“She’s right, this doesn’t look like a place that can raise strong shinobi.” One of the others adds.

“Our village conditions the mind and body, but this…” The third one also comments.

“Don’t be quick to judge, girls.” Samui warns them. “Remember, underestimating your opponent is one of the biggest mistakes you can make as shinobi. That’s not something you can afford to do as Chunin.”

“Yes, sensei.” They say in unison.

  
  


_Hidden Water and Hidden Stone envoys_

Arriving at the same time, the Water and Stone villages walk through the gates, led by Mei Terumi and Onoki.

“Mizukage, Tsuchikage, welcome.”

“It’s been a while, Hokage.” Mei shakes her hand.

Onoki floats up to do the same. “You appear to be well, Slug Princess.”

“Better than you, I imagine.” She smirks in response. “Don’t you think it’s about time to retire?”

Onoki chortles. “I’ll outlast all of you, just watch.”

“I suppose we shall.” Mei chuckles. “Has anyone else arrived yet?”

“The Kazekage and Raikage are already here. No one else, though.” Tsunade answers.

“So we’re still waiting on the small villages.” Onoki rubs his chin.

“Tsuchikage, it might do us well to not refer to them as “small” if we’re to be allies.” Mei warns.  
  
“Pah.” He waves her off. “It’s what they are, no point in pretending. Besides, I still think it’s far too early for any of this. We’ve only just began building a foundation and we’re already looking to double the members of the Shinobi Union.”

“Yes, so you’ve said.” Tsunade sighs. “But we reached a compromise, didn’t we?”

“Under protest! Because you stubborn kids wouldn’t stop yapping about it.” Onoki crosses his arms.

“You’re one to talk about stubborn…” Tsunade mutters under her breath.

“What was that?” Onoki flies closer, squinting his eyes.

“Oh, nothing of importance, dear Tsuchikage.” Tsunade puts on a big smile for him. “Why don’t you rest up from your long journey, I’m sure you need it.”

Onoki hums and flies towards Ittan who’s been waiting in the back. “Come on, boy, you can catch me up on everything on our way.”

Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi gather the rest of their party and walk with him.

As they pass, Kurotsuchi gives an empathic smile. “I apologize for all of that.”

“It’s quite alright, Kurotsuchi.” Mei smiles. “I’ve grown accustomed to stubborn men,” She then turns to Tsunade, “and we’ll have to put up with many more in the coming weeks.”

“That we will but I have faith.”

“Either way, it’s good to know it won’t be just us two in all of this. The Rain and Grass have some womanly power, as well, don’t they?”

“They do.” Tsunade nods. “I’m just still not sure about either of them.”

“The Leaf has a complicated history with the Rain, huh?”

“You could say that.”

“Still, I hope it won’t come to clashing heads.” Mei motions for her group to prepare and begins walking towards Kiri. “We’ll just have to wait.” 

  
  


* * *

As more and more people enter the village, Karin seems to somehow get more anxious. She breaks away from Hinata and Sakura, who do end up following her to make sure she’s okay, to talk to one of the Leaf shinobi stationed by the gate.

“Hey, ‘scuse me.” Karin beckons one of them.

“Yeah?”

She fidgets for a second, trying to build up to the question on her mind. “Do you… have any information on the Hidden Grass? Did they arrive already, or?”

“Far as we know, they’re on their way. We don’t know when they’ll arrive, though.”

“Right. Right.” She nods and takes a step back. “Thanks.”

“Is… everything alright, Karin?” Sakura places a hand on her shoulder.

“Yeah, all good. Just wanted to check something.” She gives a very light and very fake smile.

“Are you waiting on the Hidden Grass in particular?” Hinata asks.

“No, it’s just- I’m- Look, I just wanted to check. That’s all.” She moves past them to get toward the back of the crowd. “I’m not a prisoner anymore, I don’t need an interrogation.”

“I’m sorry, that’s not-” Sakura begins to offer an apology but is cut off by Hinata.

“Sakura. I think it best to leave her to it. She’s not one who responds well to pushing.”

“Yeah…”

* * *

_Hidden Waterfall envoy_

The relatively small group from the Waterfall are given a warm greeting. The two villages have worked together before, although relationships were always strained and not entirely out of camaraderie.

As with the others, Tsunade greets the leader of the village.

“Shibuki of the Hidden Waterfall. Welcome to the Hidden Leaf.” She extends a hand.

Shibuki, a young man in his late twenties with black hair past his shoulders, accepts with a smile. “A pleasure to be here. Your village, it blends wonderfully with its surroundings, as ours does. It feels… right.”

Tsunade smiles and bows her head. “Thank you. I’ve heard of the Hidden Waterfall’s beauty. Maybe one day we’ll have the chance to admire it, as well.”

Shibuki laughs abashedly. “I’m afraid we’re not in much of a position to host such a large gathering.”

“Either way, that’s for the future to decide.” She turns to the Leaf shinobi lined up nearby her. “Aoba, show them where they’ll be staying.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Aoba adjusts his sunglasses and steps forward. “Please follow me.”

As Shibuki follows, he looks around the village trying to not look like a child in a toy store and keep some of his dignity as village leader. Still, it’s a definite upgrade from their small village. His eyes wander up to one of the nearby roofs where he sees a familiar bed of blond hair.

Naruto waves enthusiastically; Shibuki waves back less enthusiastically. Dignity, after all.

“Well, time really has flown, huh?” Shibuki mutters to himself.

Naruto was a young Genin when his team aided the Waterfall in their time of need. Now that loudmouth brat has grown into a respectable young man.

_Hidden Frost envoy_

The smallest group so far, the Frost shinobi are dressed in white to grey clothes and a brown flak jacket. Their clothes appear somewhat thicker than most others’, which makes sense given how cold their Land can get.

Some roll up their sleeves or unzip their flak jacket. A change in wardrobe is definitely in order once they settle in.

One man, his main distinguishing feature being his headband worn as a bandana, steps forward to meet the Hokage, taking the offered handshake.

“Arare Kanno of the Hidden Frost. Welcome to the Hidden Leaf.”

He bows his head. “We are honoured to be present for this momentous event.”

“Genma here will show you to your designated accommodations.” She motions to the Jounin standing at attention nearby. “We’ll send word when everyone is present and has had to set up.”

Genma nods and steps forward to lead them into the village and show them the way.

* * *

_Hidden Rain envoy_

While Naruto wanted to be present for the whole thing to witness everyone entering the village, there was really one delegation in particular that he wanted to be there to meet. The Hidden Rain in particular is still an uncertain entity in the shinobi world.

Even though former enemies banded together during the Fourth Great War and they learned the value of cooperation, there’s still some uncertainty towards the only remaining member of the Akatsuki. Specifically the Hidden Leaf feels uneasy, as Pain’s attack is still a sore memory for many despite the zero losses suffered, besides the materialistic ones.

Naruto just wanted to be here to make sure Konan receives a proper welcome.

He doesn’t have to wait overly long, as the Rain shinobi appear on the horizon. Naruto doesn’t move yet, not wanting to intrude on the Hokage greeting them, but there already seems to be some tension in the air. Hopefully this won’t actually go too bad.

Konan, leading Mutsu by the hand, leads her people into the village, slowing down to take in the atmosphere and look around. Stern eyes meet her eyes but she doesn’t let it bother her. She _can’t_. She does understand why and is ready to accept whatever judgement they give her. That’s a big reason why she agreed to come in the first place. Face her terrible past mistakes.

As she steps past the gates, she releases her son’s hand and motions him to step back and stick with Bairin. Fuyo and Suiren aren’t far behind, the two young kunoichi having proven their loyalty and ability enough to become some of the more trusted shinobi in the new Hidden Rain.

Kotori watches on from a heightened place and eagerly points to the group. “There he is!” 

“See?” Hinata smiles. “You’ll catch up soon enough.”

“Someone you know?” Karin asks.

“Yeah!” Kotori hops off, “We met when we went to the Rain.” and runs off into the crowd, pushing past them.

“Wait, Kotori?” Hinata goes after her but the girl’s already slipped through.

Konan steps forward, breaking away from the group. Her attire has changed slightly from before. For starters, her headband doesn’t have the village’s symbol slashed. She still wears a cloak but without the red clouds, being more reminiscent to the original Akatsuki that she founded together with Nagato and Yahiko, and over the cloak she dons the Rain’s flak jacket.

She stops close to the Hokage, the two women locking eyes. This encounter is difficult for both them, each for their own reason.

“Konan of the Hidden Rain.” Tsunade acknowledges her arrival as politely as she can right now.

“Lady Hokage.” Konan lightly bows her head.

“You’ve grown since we last met.” Tsunade recalls the young, helpless children that Jiraiya took under his wing. “Not just in size, but in influence and skill, as well.”

Konan gives a solemn smile. “I had an excellent teacher.”

Tsunade’s smile drops. “He was.”

From the crowd, a small form bursts out from behind the adults. Kotori heads directly to Mutsu, a wide grin on her face.

“Mutsu! You’re here” She calls loudly and runs right into him, enthusiastically grabbing his hands.

“Kotori?” Mutsu yelps in surprise. ”Hi, um, it’s good to see you again.”

His purple hair is cut a bit shorter now, not hiding his eyes entirely. Still he lowers his head in slight embarrassment to try and hide his eyes and light smile. This probably is attracting some attention, and he was warned beforehand that his mom and the Leaf have a complicated history. Sticking out might not be overly helpful.

“I can show you around the village, take you around, and we can train together! It’ll be great.”

Yokumaru and Shoto make their way out of the crowd, as well, but have the sense to keep their distance and not interrupt the arrival of a foreign village.

Yokumaru and Mutsu give a distant hello.

Somehow, seeing this girl excited to see another kid from the Rain eases the mood around. Seeing the future generation this happy to be together makes them remember the entire reason they’re here. The lesson they learned during the Fourth War.

Tsunade sighs and extends a hand. “Welcome to the Hidden Leaf. Officially.” The kids also reminded her of what’s most important right now.

“Thank you for having us.” Konan accepts her hand. “Officially.”

It’s a bit of an awkward handshake but tensions have eased up. This might not be a total disaster, after all.

This is the moment Naruto chooses to Flicker right next to Tsunade, a grin on his face. “Hey.”

“Naruto.” Konan’s smile brightens. “How are you?”

“Ah, well, that’s a big question.” He laughs and steps towards her to give her a hug, a hug which she openly accepts. “We’ll have to go over that over a few drinks.” 

“That’d be nice.”

He turns to Tsunade. “Granny, you mind if I show her where they’re staying?”

Tsunade sighs and rubs the back of her head. “No, I suppose not. Not going to stick around for the others?”

Naruto smirks, “You forget who you’re talking to.” and crosses his fingers in his signature hand sign.

**[Shadow Clone]**

A second Naruto pops into existence as the original begins Konan into the village. “Come on, it’s this way.”

The Leaf shinobi gathered around make enough of a path for Naruto to pass through. If seeing the kids interacting eased the tension, then seeing their biggest hero hug the leader definitely nearly got rid of it. After all, Naruto is the one who defeated Pain and saved the village. If the person who fought for them is willing to welcome the Rain with open arms, then they can’t exactly go against him. He’s the whole reason many of them are even alive.

“Thank you.” Konan says quietly as they walk through the streets.

“Of course.” Naruto smiles. “Let’s get ya settled, yeah? Then we can catch up.”

Naruto sees Hinata nearer the front of the crowd, who motions toward Kotori who kind of just invited herself onto the scene. Naruto silently reassures her that he’ll keep an eye on her. 

-x-

Kotori and Mutsu run up to the front with their parents.

Seeing the opportunity, Yokumaru and Shoto walk over with them.

“Hey, Mutsu.” Yokumaru gives a proper greeting this time.

“Hi.” Mutsu smiles. “And, um…” He looks at the boy he doesn’t recognize.

“Shoto Teshin.” He gives his traditional bow.  
  
“Shoto’s dad’s student, too!” Kotori clarifies. We met him after we left the Rain.

“I see.” Mutsu nods but something jolts him. He looks around nervously, like he’s searching for something.

“What’s wrong?” Kotori asks, concerned.

Mutsu furrows his brow. “I dunno, I just feel… uneasy.”

A fair distance away, Kashiwama stares daggers into Mutsu’s back. “Competition.” He hisses.

  
Genzai facepalms. “Seriously, man…”

-x-

Tsunade crosses her arms and smiles. “Well played.”

Naruto’s clone smirks. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Uh huh.” She shakes her head in response and lightly bumps his shoulder. “Want to stay with me to meet the rest?”

“Sure.”

* * *

_Hidden Star envoy_

The smallest group so far, the Hidden Star Village was never a large village to begin with. They were always more reclusive and kept to themselves and kept out of outside conflicts as much as possible. Their being surrounded by a valley of poisonous gas definitely aided them in their isolation.

To see this village openly mingle with others is definitely not something that anyone expected to happen but here they are.

The few shinobi look around in awe, admiring the much larger village. The Star is probably as big as a single district in the Leaf.

Only one looks unimpressed. Or tries to, at least. Sumaru stays focused on the path ahead where a very familiar face awaits. An older and more defined, but definitely familiar.

A man steps forward to greet the Hokage and Naruto, with Sumaru walking just behind him.

“Nakago of the Hidden Star. Welcome to the Hidden Leaf.” As always she extends a hand.

Nakago shakes her hand. “Thank you for having us.”

“Of course. We opened the doors to anyone who would want to join, we’re pleased to see the Hidden Star taking an interest.”

“Times _have_ changed. The Third Hoshikage wished for us to be more accepting and I plan on continuing his legacy as the Fifth.”

On hearing the title ‘Hoshikage’, Tsunade’s expression shifts. She tries to hide it but poker face has never been her strong point. Nakago notices her change.

“Is... something the matter?” He asks.

“That’s... to be discussed later. For now, Raido will show you where you’ll be staying. We’ll have plenty of opportunity to talk during the meeting.”

Raido steps forward and motions them to follow. Nakago gathers all his shinobi, little as they are, while Sumaru steps toward Naruto.

“Look at that, you actually look like a shinobi now.” He teases.

Naruto smirks. “Could say the same for you. You actually managed to learn anything these years?”

“Just watch. I’m next in line to become Hoshikage while you’re lazing around in your comfy village. I’ll outrank you in no time.”

“I’ll be sure to remind you how wrong you were when I become Hokage first.”

The two step only inches away from each other. It’s not a hostile atmosphere but the two are definitely getting heated.

“Sumaru, let’s go!” Nakago calls out.

“Lucky he bailed you out.” Sumaru pats Naruto on the shoulder.

“Yeah, you better run!” Naruto calls out as Sumaru walks away; stepping back to be by Tsunade’s side.

Sumaru joins two other shinobi around his age, a young man and a young woman who wave to Naruto. It takes a moment but he recognizes Hokuto and Mizura, all grown from when they last met.

Mizura’s condition has definitely improved to where he doesn’t need a cane anymore to walk. Hokuto seems as energetic as she always was.

“Sorry about him, Naruto, you know how he is.” Hokuto calls out before the three rejoin their group.”

Tsunade chuckles. “Such confidence in your future status.”

“Well, I mean… just for reference, I’m next in line for Hokage, right?” Naruto asks as he leans to the side, trying to make it look like he’s still paying attention to the gates in front of him.

“Eh, I dunno. I’ll have to think about it.”

“Think about what? Who else is there?” Naruto whips around to look at her.

“Well, Kakashi’s a solid pick. Good leadership skills. Shikamaru’s intelligence is what the village needs. Or Kiba’s ferocity.”

“Oh come on!” He flails his arms. “Now you’re just messing with me.”

Tsunade laughs and shoulder-bumps him. “Come on, kid, let’s just do our jobs.”

  
  


* * *

Konan opens the window to her room and leans over it, looking down to the streets of the Leaf.

“You’ve rebuilt well. I’m glad you’re doing well.”

“It took a while.” Naruto leans on the wall next to her. “It wouldn’t have been possible if Nagato didn’t bring everyone back, but we got back to our feet”

“Maybe, but rebuilding wouldn’t have been needed if we hadn’t attacked in the first place. I fully understand why people are apprehensive.” She closes her eyes in contemplation. “I have a lot of work to do if I’m to do right by everyone.”

“You’re already on the way, don’t worry. We’ve come a long way ‘cause of the Fourth War. The Five villages learned to get over their fights and work together; I’m sure they’ll come to understand you like they understood each other.”

“I hope you’re right.” Konan straightens herself to look at Naruto. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you.”

“You’re here now.” He reassures her. “That’s enough. And we might need you for everything to come.”

“The Great Beasts? I heard about this new threat. The Hidden Rain will be your ally no matter what, of that I can assure you.”

“Thanks.” He smiles. “Is everything good in the village?”

“For the most part we’ve chased away the few remaining Hanzo loyalists. We’re tracking them down but we have to focus on rebuilding and restructuring, but we’ll get there.”

“Good, goood.” He nods.

“You know, you don’t have to stick around with me. I’ll be fine. You can go back to your Hokage; we can always meet up later.”

“You sure?” He asks.

“Yeah.” She nods. “Don’t worry about me. Thanks for being concerned.” She steps away from the window and comes closer to Naruto, reaching over to his headband. The two small little horns he had custom added to his headband. “It suits you. I’m sure he’d be proud of who you’d become.”

“I hope so.” Naruto smiles. “I try to honour him but I dunno if I’m doing a good job.”

“Trust me, you are.” She ruffles his hair. “Come on, get out of here. Be with your people.”

Naruto nods and heads out the room. “I’ll show ya around later. Kids!” He calls down the corridor. “Wanna head back?”

“Can’t we stay here?” Kotori whines.

Naruto rubs the back of his neck and looks to Konan for permission.  
  
She chuckles in response. “Go, I’ll keep an eye on them.”

“Alright.” Naruto Flickers away to return to the front gates.

-x-

Naruto’s clone disappears in a puff of smoke, only for the real Naruto to hop in his place.

He stays quiet for a moment before turning to Tsunade. “But, like, I’m next in line, right?”  
  
“Oh, don’t you start, too!” She reprimands him.

Naruto chuckles. “So, who do we have left again?”  
  
“Hidden Mountain and Hidden Grass.”

“Mountain… You think they really might be the ones behind it all?” Naruto turns more serious.

“I don’t know. On one hand, the glove seems to fit with what Sasuke and Awaji pieced together, but then why would that Kappa beast attack them if they control them? Keep your eyes open, Naruto. For now, we’ll just be cautious around them.”

“Right.” He gives a firm nod.

* * *

_Hidden Mountain envoy_

The Hidden Mountain shinobi enter the Leaf with a medium sized group- definitely bigger than the other smaller villages but still nowhere near what the Five Great Villages had in numbers. Either they really want to show off their strength or this is a small group for them.

Then again, in just a year, the Land of Woods and its Hidden Mountain Village have taken in what was once the Land of Rice Paddies along with its remaining shinobi and have practically full control over the Land of Hot Waters and the Hidden Hot Waters Village. They’re definitely at their strongest, although whether they could rival the Five Nations is yet to be seen.

If anyone was to try to disrupt the status quo, they’re a good candidate.

The Mountain is a village that hasn’t been the most open to others and has been adamant about not wanting to be a playground for the big nations’ wars. Not much is known about them beyond the bare basics.

Kaidomaru Sakata, as he’s known to the general public, walks in with confidence, striding up to the Hokage.

“Kaidomaru Sakata of the Hidden Mountain. Welcome to the Hidden Leaf.” She’s almost getting tired of saying the same thing to everyone.

“Lady Hokage.” He bows his head. “Thank you for extending an invitation. I hope there’s no bad blood after our previous meeting.”

“Of course not. Those politics were more for the Daimyos than us, after all. We can’t let that get in-beween our own relations.”

“I’m pleased to hear that.” Kaidomaru smiles. “Naruto Uzumaki, it’s a pleasure to see you again. I’m afraid we didn’t have the chance to speak back at the capital. I hope to change that now.” He offers Naruto a handshake.

“Yeah.” Naruto accepts it, slightly apprehensively. “If you want to, then who am I to refuse, yeah?”

“Excellent. I’m sure we’ll get along swimmingly.” Kaidomaru gives an eerie smirk.

“Tonbo here will show you where you’ll be staying.”

A Leaf shinobi, the entire top part of his head wrapped in bandages including his eyes, steps forward. “This way, please.”

“I look forward to a continued partnership.” He bows his head before parting ways. “Lady Hokage. Naruto.”

His four most trusted follow right behind him- Mizushi Osui, Kuga Tsumetogi, Takeshi Tokage, and Kikyo Chinoike. For the purposes of this visit, she is a Chinoike, since Sasuke Uchiha knows about her Ketsuryugan. She has the perfect cover as to who she is.

As Kuga passes with her faithful feline companion, Noraneko, the puma hisses at some nearby canines of the Inuzuka clan.

Kuga pats her on the head to calm her down. “It’s alright, dear. You’ll get your chance.”

Sasame Fuma hops in place to get Naruto’s attention. “Hey! Hey, Naruto!”

“Sasame?” He waves back. “You’re here, too?”

She walks over to him seemingly in a hurry, not wanting the others to leave her behind. “Yeah! If everything goes well, they picked me to be the Hidden Mountain’s representative! Isn’t that great? Guess I’ll get to work with the Hidden Leaf, afterall.” She grins.

“Yeah, that’s awesome!” He then crosses his arms, trying to appear serious. “Be careful, though, this is hard work with a lot at stake.”

“Like you’re one to give that kind of talk…” Tsunade shakes her head.

“Oh, don’t worry. I know exactly what I’m doing. You’re not the only one who’s changed after all these years.” She quickly looks back to see the tail end of her village’s group. “Oh, shoot, I gotta go, we’ll catch up later!” She runs to catch up with them.

Tsunade chuckles. “Well, aren’t you the popular one.”

“Looks like it. Really puts everything in perspective, huh? Everything we’ve done to get to this point.” Naruto smiles.

Tsunade raises a brow. “I expected you’d give some kind of cocky remark.”

“Nah, I’m just happy how everything’s worked out so far.” He turns his head to her and grins.

“Alright then. We might make a Kage out of you yet.” From the corner of her eye, she looks down the path the Hidden Mountain took. _‘Still, for them to pick a kunoichi who hasn’t been part of their village for long… If they really were planning something, you’d think they’d send someone they know they can trust…”_

* * *

_Hidden Grass Village_

With all but one village remaining to arrive, Karin becomes a nervous mess. She tries to keep a calm exterior but Sakura and Hinata aren’t fooled for a second.

Sakura sits next to her. “Karin, are-”

“Yes.” Karin cuts her off. “Just… don’t, okay? Don’t.”

It doesn’t take too long for the last village’s envoy to enter the village, receiving the same warm welcome all the previous ones have. Maybe it’s the sight of them, or maybe it’s how well received they are, or maybe it’s both, but the moment Karin sees the headbands and the woman leading them inside, she hops off the elevated place she was at to observe.

“I gotta go.” She tries to turn her back to Sakura and Hinata right away and not let them see her expression. “And before you even start, don’t.” She warns them, knowing they’d just ask even more questions.

Sakura was beginning to stand up when Karin told them not to bother and stays like that for a moment, unsure and concerned as to what’s going on.

“She’s never mentioned anything until now…” Hinata watches the road Karin took to leave. “I could keep an eye on her to make sure she’s okay...”

Sakura sighs and sits back down. “No, that’s a whole privacy issue we better not get into. You’re right, let’s just let her open up on her own.”

Hinata turns her attention back to the Hidden Grass envoy. “Something happened with the Grass, that much is certain.”

“This might be a lot to ask but do keep an eye on her, okay? You live closer to her.” Sakura requests.

“I will.” Hinata nods.

-x-

“Taiga Hazama of the Hidden Grass. Welcome to the Hidden Leaf.” The last time she has to say that, thankfully.

A tall short-haired woman walks up and rather roughly grabs Tsunade’s hand, tightly squeezing it as they shake. Tsunade, however, isn’t one to be overpowered and jostled around.

“Hokage. Ain’t this one neat village ya got.”

“We try.” Tsunade releases the other woman’s hand, both of them having an red imprint of the other’s. “I hope you travelled well.”

Taiga looks around the crowd, not really hiding that her attention isn’t fully focused on Tsunade. “Well as can be. You know how it is.”

“Enjoying the view?” Tsunade asks.

“Huh? Oh, yeah.” Taiga focuses back on the conversation. “View’s great. Like I said, neat village.”

“Iwashi here will show you where you’ll be staying.” She motions to a shinobi to the side. “Enjoy your stay.”

“Reckon I will.” She smirks.

-x-

Karin makes her way back to the Uzumaki compound, almost walking on autopilot. It’s not the first time she’s done this. Not the first time she saw someone from her past that woke up far too many bad memories, and all of them happened while in here.

Maybe this whole clan thing was a bad idea. Should’ve just stayed in prison.

Inadvertently, she finds herself in the exact same place she did last time and meets the exact same person she did last time.

“Jugo?” She asks, herself almost half-uncertain as her tearing up eyes betray her vision.

“Did something happen?” Jugo relaxes his meditative pose. “You look troubled.”

Karin can’t help but laugh. “‘Troubled’. Yeah, I guess that’s a word for it.” She dries her eyes off and walks over to him, head lowered. “Do you mind if I… stay with you? Again.”

“Of course not.”

Right in front of Jugo, Karin falls down to her knees and rests her head on his shoulder.

“Um… Karin?” He asks, surprised by her actions.

“She’s here.” Karin whimpers. “I don’t… I don’t think I can take it. I thought I could, but I can’t.”

Jugo pats her on the back, not knowing what he can do for her right now. “Who’s here? What can’t you handle?”

“Taiga. The Hidden Grass. I can’t. After everything they did to my mother, after everything they put me through…” She begins openly crying.

Jugo hugs her. “It’s okay. It’ll be okay. You’re safe here, Naruto will make sure of that.”

* * *

_The following day_

_Shinobi Union meeting_

The five Kage of the Five Great Villages. The founders and currently only leaders of the Shinobi Union member are sat at a straight table: 

Fifth Hokage, Tsunade,

Fourth Raikage, Ay,

Fifth Kazekage, Gaara,

Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi,

Third Tsuchikage, Onoki.

Behind them are sat five shinobi from each village. The people picked to represent their own village in the borders of the allies. These, of course, include the representatives stationed in the Hidden Leaf: Hinata Hyuga, Karui, Temari, Kiri, and Ittan.

On a semi-circular table facing the five Kage are the leaders who’d arrived just the day prior:

Konan of the Hidden Rain is leaning forward with her hands on the table.

Shibuki of the Hidden Waterfall is trying his best to sit still in this slightly overwhelming atmosphere.

Kaidomaru Sakata of the Hidden Mountain is sitting in a more relaxed position, slouched down in his chair.

Nakago of the Hidden Star, and self proclaimed Fifth Hoshikage, is fiddling with the folder on tne table in front of him.

Arare Kanno of the Hidden Frost is sitting very formally and very still.

Taiga Hazama of the Hidden Grass has her feet up on the table.

Behind them, similarly to the Kage, are a select few of their more trusted shinobi, be they ones who will be selected as representatives or not. Some, like the Hidden Mountain, apparently already have an idea as to who will be sent where and Sasame Fuma is present in the room to take in any details that might pertain to her future job.

Taiga looks around the room. “Sure looks like an audition, way we’re all set up.”

“I’d say that’s precisely what it is.” Konan states.

“Well, I don’t much care what you say, Akatsuki.” Taiga gales in response.

Kaidomaru chuckles. “Already picking a fight you can’t win, huh, Taiga?”

“Eat me.” 

Tsunade stands up from her chair after very deliberately slamming her hands onto the table. Not loud enough to cause much of a disturbance but loud enough to make it clear this line of thought is to stop.

Nakago breathes a sigh of relief. These villages definitely have disagreement spanning decades that they haven’t been a part of, so this is really out of his territory.

“Let’s not forget what we’re here for.” Tsunade takes the lead by addressing the hopeful members of the Union. “We’re here to bring about change to the shinobi world and we do that by working together.”

Arare speaks up in his rather monotone voice. “As crude as Taiga is, I’m inclined to share her concerns. The Akatsuki were a force to be reckoned with, bringing about great turmoil throughout all our Lands and yet we’re to trust one of its members?”

“Great turmoil, you say?” Gaara says in an even tone that matches Arare. Hleans on the table, intertwining his fingers. “Our history is nothing but turmoil, Lord Arare. We have all wronged each other in many ways, be it openly or covertly. We have been at war and we have stabbed each other in the back.”

Arare nods. “And all of that served a purpose.”

“The Akatsuki had their purpose, as well. It simply wasn’t one we agreed with.” Kaidomaru interjects. “When the Five ‘Great’ Villages fought their wars, it was in our territories. How many of you saw purpose in foreign armies leveling your land for their own gain? You’ve willing to overlook each other’s mistreatment for this Union but not the Hidden Rain’s?” He raises a brow. “Very picky, aren’t you?”

“Thank you, Lord Kaidomaru, but it’s alright.” Konan bows to him. “I don’t plan on making excuses for myself. When the Akatsuki was originally formed, we sought to bring unity to the Hidden Rain and had goals not too dissimilar to this Shinobi Union. However, being exposed to the cruelty of the world made our vision clouded. I aim to fix that and am prepared to do anything deemed necessary to do that.”

“For what it’s worth, I think moving past old grievances will prove the best course of action for all of us.” Nakago nervously looks around the room.

“Easy for you to say.” Shibuki glares at Konan. “Some of us have lost dear people. That’s not something you just forgive.”

“No one expects that of anyone, young Shibuki.” Onoki sighs. “However, we are all equal in this. We’ve all lost people and we all want to move on.”

“Well wouldya look at that.” Taiga mocks. “Even the Fencesitter done and went soft.”

“I’ve merely come to realize the errors of my past judgement, Taiga Hazama. I hope you all will do the same.”

Konan taps on the folder in front of her. “We reviewed the condition and agree with them. Opening borders and sharing information, that goes without saying. There’s some opposition within the Rain but we’re also to share our technological advances, as well. It’s thanks to them that I was able to survive and with Lady Hokage’s medical knowledge, I believe it can be strengthened to save many lives.”

Tsunade nods. “We’re going to spend a lot of time together. If there’s still any disagreements, I hope we can come to settle them in time. Before we continue with any further discussions, I do believe there’s other matters of importance we must address.” She turns to the leader of the Hidden Mountain Village. “Lord Kaidomaru, I ask that you return the Sharingan that you confiscated.”

The Kage don’t react to this revelation, having already been informed of what Sasuke reported a month ago. The smaller village leader, however, react in shock and surprise of varying degrees. Arare of the Frost keeps his cool, Taiga is as animated as ever, Shibuki and Nakago less so. Konan only narrows her eyes.

“So you heard.” Kaidomaru laughs before turning his jovial demeanor around. “And why must I do such a thing, Lady Hokage?”

“I’d think that’s obvious. Those Sharingan belong to the Hidden Leaf’s Uchiha clan. They belong with us, they belong with the last surviving Uchiha.”

“I don’t quite see it like that.” Kaidomaru straightens his posture. “Those eyes were in MY land. Obito Uchiha made a mockery of us by making his base of operations in the Land of Woods, which if I may add, is the fault of the Hidden Leaf for allowing any of that to happen. Consider this payment for everything that was handled poorly by the so-called Great Villages. Those Sharingan were in my land therefore they belong to me.” With each passing sentence, Kaidomaru was slowly raising to his feet, leaning on the table in front of him, trying to assert some sort of dominance.

Ay growls. “I’d advise you to sit down.”

Kaidomaru plops himself back onto his chair as if nothing happened. “Well, I say that but those eyes are already proving more trouble than they’re worth.”

“Meaning?” Tsunade raises a brow.

“No doubt you’ve heard that Hakone Town was attacked by one of those… Great Beasts, I think you’ve been calling them? We believe whoever was controlling it was after the Sharingan we’d placed there. We managed to chase away a group of masked shinobi, but not before losing some of the eyes. As far as I’m concerned, you can have the rest. I’ve no intention of putting my people in any more danger.”

Mei furrows her brow. “Then what was that speech meant to accomplish.”

Kaidomaru shrugs. “I spent a lot of time coming up with what to say concerning the Sharingan. I wanted to get it out of my system, at least. Had a lot more I’d planned to say but that attack changed things. The Hidden Mountain will return what Sharingan have survived.”

Arare sighs. “You are an unpredictable man, Kaidomaru Sakara.”

Taiga looks disappointed. “And here I was hoping for a rumble.”

Konan turns to the Hokage with a concerned look. “If these Sharingan are a target, will the Hidden Leaf not be in danger itself?”

“We have the means and strength to defend ourselves. There are multiple security measures we can take not at the disposal of other villagers.”

“How mysterious.” Kaidomaru chuckles and motions to his entourage behind him, signaling one of them to come to him.

Mizushi walks forward with a large scroll in his hands, stopping right besides Kaidomaru and handing it to him.

“Thank you, Mizushi.” He takes the scroll and places it on the table. “This storage scroll contains all the Sharingan left. The last remnants of one of the greatest clans in history.”

“And you’re willing to part with them so easily?” Gaara questions with suspicion.

“I can assure you it was not easy, Lord Kazekage. We’ve had time to consider our options and came to the conclusion this is the best course of action, given everything that happened.” He eyes the scroll for a moment while continuing to address the Union. “Used to be a time, we’d all go to war to get our hands on these.”

“Looks like we’re making progress already.” Shibuki leans back in his seat.

“Thank you, Lord Kaidomaru.” Tsunade makes a motion with her wrist and an ANBU appears in front of them to take the scroll and disappear as quickly as he arrived. “This act will not be forgotten.”

“All for the Union, yes?” Kaidomaru gives a smile that appears somewhere between genuine and mocking, making his colleagues unsure what his true feelings on the subject are.

Mei, looking at her fellow Kage to ensure this matter is dealt with for now, turns to address Nakago. “With that matter resolved, there’s the issue of the Hidden Star.”

“Issue?” Nakago furrows his brow. “What issue could there be with our village?”

“The title of Hoshikage that you’ve taken to yourselves. I’m afraid we have to ask that the leaders of the Hidden Star cease to refer to themselves as Kage.”

“That’s… we’ve carried this title for as long as it’s existed! We’ve every right to call ourselves as we wish.” Nakago protests.

“The title of Kage,” Onoki speaks, “is not something that was created lightly. It was the Five Great Nations, who in their wisdom in allowing the shinobi villages to exist, that granted those titles to their villages. Kage refers not just to a village leader, but one who belongs to a Land that has great resources, trade, and influence. Characters that your Land of Bears does not possess, I’m afraid.”

Mei nods. “This is an issue brought up mainly by the Daimyo. If our Shinobi Union is to continue its existence by bridging the peace between our villages and our nations, they’ve made it clear that the Land of Bears’ Hidden Star Village drop the title of Kage.”

Nakago curls his fists in frustration. “You realize what you ask. To admit that we are unworthy, that we are lesser; to strip us of such a thing…”

Shibuki closes his eyes in contemplation. “I would have to agree with the Kage. None of us have ever considered calling ourselves Kage, exactly for the reasons Lord Tsuchikage stated. It’s not a matter of how we feel, but how much influence our Lands have.”

“I fear the Hidden Star Village has spent far too much time in isolation and has become detached to matters concerning the wider shinobi world.” Arare tucks his hands in his sleeves in a pseudo meditative pose.

“This is something for you to discuss with your people, Nakago.” Tsunade tries to reassure him in a calm voice. “However, I’m afraid this demand in particular is out of our hands. You have time to decide what you and your village want. We’ll continue to discuss it, as well, to aid in your decision.”

Nakago nods silently.

Tsunade returns the nod and looks to the other leaders. “This is only the first meeting and we don’t want to push too far with terms and conditions. We wanted this meeting mainly as a means to introduce ourselves and set up the foundation for what the Union is to hold. Unless there’s anything-”

“I got something.” Taiga interrupts. “Since we’re out here making demands and whatnot.”

“What is it you wish to demand, Lady Taiga?” Gaara prods.

“Karin Uzumaki.” Taiga looks at them with a focused gaze. “We want her returned to us.”

In the back of the room, Hinata’s eyes widen. ‘ _Is this why Karin was…_ ’

Temari and Karui look to Hinata with concern, trying not to make it too obvious. She only shakes her head in response, indicating she’s not entirely sure herself what the full situation is.

Tsunade glares. “Pardon?”

“Ya heard me. I know you got her in here. We just want what belongs to us, is all.” She motions to Kaidomaru. “Since we’re in the mood for givin’ back what ain’t ours.”

“Karin Uzumaki is not an item to be traded. She’s a member of the Hidden Leaf Village.” Tsunade glares, her anger rising that such a demand would even be made.

“And before that, she was a member of the Hidden Grass, before bein’ so rudely kidnapped. Ya had no right to make her one of your own, Hokage. We took her in, we raised her, we made her who she is.” Taiga growls. “We ain’t too keen on havin’ our possessions taken from us, y’see.”

“She’s a _person_.” Tsunade corrects her.

“She’s a _shinobi_.” Taiga corrects her. “Can preach all ya want, but this is our demand. She’s a missing-nin belongin’ to the Hidden Grass and we’ll have her back.”

Tsunade slams the table and stands up. “Consider your demand denied. She’s a member of the Uzumaki clan and that’s the only palace she belongs to. The Uzumaki take care of our own, so you’ll find no support here.”

Kairomadu narrows his eyes at those words.

“Easy there, Hokage. This ain’t no way for a respected leader to act.” Taiga continues to bait.

“The meeting is over.” Tsunade turns to leave. “And if you know what’s good for you, so are your ‘demands’.”

Ay sighs and walks out with the Hokage.

Mei bows her head to the village leaders. “Thank you for your time. Regardless of how it ended, I do believe progress has been made, and hope to see it continue that way. For now, I’d suggest reconvening with your allies to discuss.”

With that, the first meeting of extended Shinobi Union comes to a close

-x-

Ay catches up to Tsunade. “Hokage!” He bellows.

“What?!” She whips around. 

“Was that really necessary?” He motions to the meeting room they just left. “Losing your temper like that.”

Tsunade crosses her arms. “You’re the lieral last person to talk to me about losing temper.”

He scratches his head. “Hrm, I know that. But we need to keep our cool and not make a mess of things. Even I can do that.”

“And what if someone told you to hand over your brother?” She asks.

She shakes his head. “That’s not the same.” 

“Sure it is.” She turns around to continue walking.

Ay follows after her. “Why were you so defensive about this girl, anyway. You know what she’s done, who she is.”

“That’s exactly why. I know she was dealt bad cards in life and now she has the chance to fix it. And besides, she’s family. I’m not giving away family, Raikage, and that’s that.”

“You stubborn ox…”

-x-

Kaidomaru walks down the corridor followed only by his four most trusted; the other Mountain shinobi having left on their own. He looks annoyed.

Takeshi comments from behind his oni ANBU mask, his voice slightly muffled. “You look annoyed.”

“Nothing of the sort.” Kaidomaru says in a very annoyed voice.

“Still, that went as well as expected.” Mizushi sighs in relief. “You played the part well. Think they suspect anything?”

“Maybe. Too early to tell.” He keeps his answers short.

Mizushi, Takeshi, and Kuga have known him long enough to know to not poke him when he gets like that. Kikyo, despite not knowing him long, can still sense this isn’t a good time to poke him.

_‘Uzumaki take care of their own? What a joke. You didn’t take care of anything when we were being taken and treated like disposable tools.’_ Kaidomaru slams the wall next to him. _‘And that Taiga... She’s one of the people who did that to us. Her and people like her.’_ He grits his teeth and growls.

“Come on!” Kaidomaru shouts an order. “We’re not letting anything distract us.”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NAME MEANINGS
> 
> Arare Kanno (かんの アラレ, Kanno Arare) = arare - ‘hail’ ; kanno - ‘of emotion’. His full name means ‘hail of emotion’.
> 
> Nakago (ナカゴ, Nakago ) = Scorpio constellation
> 
> Taiga Hazama (はざま タイガ, Hazama Taiga ) = taiga - ‘large river’ ; hazama - ‘ravine’ or ‘ravenous desire’ 
> 
> TRIVIA
> 
> Shibuki appeared in the “ Mission: Protect the Waterfall Village! ” novel and OVA.


	47. Academy Days VI - Shinobi Union 2

**ACADEMY DAYS VI - SHINOBI UNION 2**

Karin sits on Naruto’s sofa hugging her knees, with Jugo right besides her for support. Naruto himself paces around the room while Hinata sits with a concerned look, worried about Karin.

Tsunade sighs. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know just how deep this all went.”

“It’s fine.” Karin’s voice comes out muffled. “I wasn’t exactly opening up about it, either. I don’t… I don’t want to go back.”

“Of course you’re not!” Naruto swings his arm dismissively. “You belong with us and no one’s gonna change that, right, Granny?”

“Naturally.” Tsunade reaffirms. “Still, this all creates an awkward situation for everyone involved. Why didn’t you say anything before?” She leans back in her chair and rubs her temple. This is just going to be one headache after another.

“I didn’t want to jeopardize the Union.” Karin explains. “I thought I could just tough it out but I couldn’t forget everything that happened. And apparently neither can Taiga.”

“Look, you don’t worry about Taiga; I’ll keep her in line. Would probably be better if you just stay here for the time being. Try to limit your time outside the compound.”

“That’s fine.” Karin nods. “I’m used to being a prisoner, anyway.”

Naruto takes a rushed step to the sofa, stopping in a crouched positiohn in front of Karin. “No, that’s not what this is! Granny just want-” 

Karin interrupts him with a bump him on the shoulder. “I’m kidding, cousin. I know. It’s probably better for me, anyway.”

“I’ll be here, as well.” Jugo nods in reassurance. 

Hinata turns to the Hokage. “You don’t think the Grass would try something, do you?”

Tsunade shrugs. “You of all people should know that anything should happen during negotiations.”

“That’s…” Hinata’s shoulders slump, remembering the incident that led to her uncle’s death. “The Hidden Cloud’s different now, even if I had my reservations at first.”

“I know they are, and I trust the Raikage to not do something stupid, at least for now. But the Grass? Difficult to say. I’ll keep some ANBU around just in case.” She warns Naruto.

“I spend most of my day meditating.” Jugo adds. “I should be able to sense them during that time.”

“We should warn the rest of the clan, as well.” Hinata says.

“Yeah, they gotta know.” Naruto agrees.

“That could cause a panic, and alert Taiga and the rest that we’re arming ourselves.” Tsunade cautions. “It could backfire.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Naruto is firm. “If you think something can go down, the others need to know so they can react in time. I’m not keeping secrets.”

Hinata nods. “I agree. Keeping this a secret would only lead to more destruction should the Hidden Grass actually try something. We’ll tell them not to let it be known anything is amiss.”

“Alright, if that’s what you think best. It’s your clan, after all.”

“ _Our_ clan, right, Granny?”

Tsunade chuckles. “Yeah, I suppose it is.” She stands up and straightens her clothes. “And Karin?”

“Yes, ma’am?” Karin looks up.

Tsunade walks over and places a hand on her head, lightly caressing the girl. “Don’t you worry about a thing. We’ll keep you safe.”

“Thank you.” She gives a light smile, her first in a while now.

“I’ll stay with you ‘til this all blows over.” Naruto declares.

Kairn shakes her head. “No, don’t. Last thing I want is to keep you locked with me.” She stands up and pats him on the shoulder as she turns to leave. “You have work to do. Just try not to mess up too much without me.”

“If something comes up, we’ll call you.” Jugo reassures him and goes after his friend.

Hinata sighs. “I don’t know how we can continue knowing this could all turn sour.”

Tsunade chuckles. “That’s how the shinobi world is. Every single negotiation’s been done with the assumption the other side’s going to stab you in the back. You just have to make sure to show them that’s not a good idea.”

“Is that still how the shinobi world is?” Naruto asks. “After everything?”

“Will be for a while, but we’re trying to make sure it doesn’t. We’ll get there.” Tsunade stretches her arms, feeling them going a bit stiff. “Hinata, will you come with me? I could use your help today with the Union.”

“Of course, Lady Tsunade.” Hinata bows her head before turning to her boyfriend. “Will you be alright?”

“Yeah!” Naruto reassures her with a quick hug. “You got important stuff to do, right? Don’t worry about me.”

-x-

Karin leans on a railing to catch her breath. “Not really how I thought this would go. Thought I was done hiding and cowering.”

“That’s not what we’re doing.” Jugo stands by her side.

“Sure feels like it.”

“We’re much better off than before. We’re free to live actual lives, we’re treated like normal people, and we do good work.”

Karin chuckles and steps away from the railing. “Maybe you’re right. Sorry. I’m not exactly in the best place right now.”

“You’ve seen me in a lot worse places.”

“And you’ve done good.” She pats him on the chest. “Come on, let’s go meditate in that garden of yours.” She begins walking down the streets, inviting Jugo to walk with her.

“The statues don’t disturb you anymore?” He follows.

“No, I guess not.” She then adds to herself. _‘Maybe it’s the company…’_

* * *

Darui places down an empty pick on the plate and picks up another dango.

“These really are great.” He says while chewing the latest set of sweets.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” Samui reprimands him.

He gulps down the food he was chewing. “Sorry”

Chojuro laughs. “I do agree, though. Better than what we have in the Mist.”

Kurotsuchi picks up another set of dumplings herself. “Maybe it’s all the moist air. Ruins the flavour.”

He chuckles in response. “Maybe it is.”

Karui, Ittan, and Kiri all nod sagely, having known it’d be wise to show their friends and allies this place.

“We’ve had time to do reconnaissance and establish a network here.” Ittan laughs.

“And that involves more sweet shops than a single village needs?” Kurotsuchi raises a brow.  
  


Ittan shrugs. “The Leaf have a sweet tooth, who knew?”

“You didn’t strike me as someone who enjoys this kind of food, Karui.” Samui turns to her former teammate.

“You… pick up on a few things when you live with the Leaf’s Akimichi clan.” Karui rubs the back of her neck.

“You’re lucky.” Ittan muses. “The Akimichi sound better than the Inuzuka. Those people are… wild, to say the least. Especially the leader.” He shudders.

“Which clan were you with, Kiri?” Chojuro asks.  
  
“Sarutobi. Sounds like I lucked out in the draw there.” He chuckles.

“I’ll trade you.” Ittan offers.

“What? No. Tough it out.” Kiri protests.

The Stone shinobi presses. “Come on, man, remember when I saved your ass back in the war? Would’ve been Zetsu food if I wasn’t there.”

“Yeah, and I saved _yours_ a few times, too! We’re even!”

“Dude, come on, you gotta get me outta there.” Ittan gets in Kiri’s personal space; the Mist shinobi needing to push him back.

“I’m pleased to see everyone getting along.” Gaara interrupts the… moment… appearing out of nowhere, followed by his brother and sister.

“Kazekage?” Kurotsuchi raises a brow.

“What’re you doing here?” Darui asks.

Gaara observes the shop, his hands behind his back. “I’ve been told this place is… ‘incredible’.”

Temari scratches her cheek. “You guys, too, huh?”

The other representatives laugh. “Pretty much.”

Darui looks to Gaara with a bit more serious of an expression than the previous mood had. “Kazekage, do you think the Union will actually grow?”

Gaara remains silent for a moment, still focused on the selection of sweets. “I know it will. The only question is by how much. I take it you worry about Taiga Hazama?”

Darui nods. “And the Hidden Star to an extent, but, yeah.”

Kurotsuchi laughs. “Not like _that_ ’ll be a loss.”

She’s given looks by everyone around.

“What? We’re all thinking it!” She defends herself. 

Gaara orders the dango he wants and is swiftly given a plate of his own. “If we do want the Union to succeed, we must rid ourselves of that kind of thinking. A united shinobi world will require everyone.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Kurotsuchi waves dismissively.

The large group stays together for a while longer, enjoying the Hidden Leaf’s delicacies- some of them for the first time and others for a number of times they’d rather not disclose.

It’s definitely an alien experience for them, being in a foreign village as allies. Despite how long it’s been, it’s not something that goes away so easily. Some have had the opportunity to travel between villages and see them all, while others now permanently live in other villages as representatives. Some haven’t had the chance to travel a whole lot in these 2 years since the Fourth War ended.

Just as they’re preparing to end their little break, a commotion nearby grabs their attention.

“Hey, watch it!” A loud boisterous voice calls out.

“You watch it, kid.” Another voice responds. A voice that Samui very clearly recognizes- one of her Genin.

She sighs and stands up. “I’d have thought they’d be able to keep their cool.”

“Need any help?” Darui offers.

“I got it.” She dismisses the offer, “They’re my kids, after all.” and goes to where her girls apparently are.

When she rounds the corner, she does indeed see her three Genin squaring off with a Leaf shinobi, a slightly older boy with a blue scarf wrapped over his shoulders.

“Hey, as guests you really should mind your manners.” Konohamaru warns.

One of the girls stands in front, getting in Konohamaru’s face. “We mind our manner around people who matter, so back off, kid.”

Konohamaru grows increasingly more annoyed. “That’s it, you wanna be taught a lesson, then fine!” He opens his palm, allowing chakra to gather. The violent swirl of energy kicks up the dust around him. “Last chance to rethink how you talk to me.”

Samui quickens her step, deciding this isn’t exactly a moment to be left on its own. Before she can move, however, another figure steps in.

The blur of an orange cloak steps in and grabs Konohamaru by the wrist, releasing the swirl of chakra.

“That’s enough.” Naruto scolds Konohamaru but also extends the warning to the girls. “You know better than to use that here.”

“I was just gonna scare ‘em off, Bro.” Konohamaru whines.

The girls smirk. “Like that was going to happen.” As they turn around, ready to leave victorious, they’re met by their sensei, looking much sterner than she usually does.

“Just where do you think you’re going?” Samui crosses her arms. “How many times were you told not to stir up trouble.”

“He starte-”

Samui raises a hand, halting the excuse before they can continue. “You were **told**. No excuse can justify any other behaviour.” She looks to the girl who was apparently taking charge of the confrontation. “I thought you understood best, Umai.”

Umai lowers her head. “I apologize, sensei.”

“Not to me.” She motions to the Leaf Genin.

Umai sighs and turns around. “I apologize.”

Konohamaru tries to turn his head to pretend he didn’t hear it, but Naruto squeezes his hand.

“Ow, okay fine! Apology accepted.”

“And?” Naruto says expecting an addition to that sentence.

The boy sighs. “I’m… sorry, too.” He then rips his hand free from Naruto’s grasp.

“See? All good.” Naruto grins.

  
“You really have changed.” Konohamaru mutters.

“You three go.” Samui releases her Genin. “Try not to cause any more inconveniences. Naruto won’t always be around to save you.”

“Yes, sensei.” They do just as instructed.

Samui sighs and walks over to Naruto. “Allow me to apologize, as well. I didn’t think they’d do something like this.”  
  
Naruto laughs. “It’s alright. I can’t really fault them. I did something similar at my first Chunin Exams. How are you, Samui?”

Konohamaru looks between the two of them. “You know her, bro?”

“Yeah. Samui let me, Hinata, and Kotori stay at her place when we were in the Cloud.”

“I see.” Konohamaru squints his eyes as if examining the woman.

Samui chuckles. “I’m well, thank you. It’s good to see you again after so long.”

“Yeah, what’s it been like, a year?” He looks behind Samui, the road the 3 girls from earlier took. “Are those…”

“My Genin team, yeah.”

“Hah. You really became a Jounin sensei, huh? Didn’t think you’d already have a team ready for Chunin.”

“They were already capable kunoichi right out the Academy, but I’d like to think I polished their skills. And this boy is… your student?” She looks at the young Genin.

“Uhh, kinda but not really?” Naruto scratches his head.

“Whatcha talking about, bro? You taught me a whole bunch over the years! When I win this thing and become Chunin, it’ll be thanks to you.”

Naruto laughs and shrugs to Samui. “Well, there you have it.”

“So, you’re in the Exams, too. Then you might clash with my girls in due time.”

“Try not to be too sad when I win.” He puffs out his chest.

Samui smiles, being reminded a bit too much of Naruto in this boy. “I’ll try. Would you two like to join us? Some of us happened to gather at a sweets shop. I’m sure there’s plenty of people who want to catch up with you, Naruto.”

Konohamaru rejects the offers. “I gotta go train for the Chunin Exams, I don’t have time to waste!” He declares. “You have fun, bro, I got to train!”

Naruto chuckles. “Alright, don’t slack off.”

“Never!” Konohamaru high-fives Naruto who goes off with Samui.

As the young Genin prepares to leave, a very familiar and very annoying voices speaks to him.

“Pathetic.” Hanabi stands atop a nearby fence, not actually looking at Konohamaru while addressing him.

Konohamaru whips around, glaring. “What was that, Hyuga?!”

“I said ‘pathetic’. Three girls barely out of the Academy and you lowered yourself to a petty punk. This is why you won’t succeed, Sarutobi.”

“You can talk tough all you want, but you better keep those eyes on me if you wanna see what a Chunin looks like.”

Hanabi sighs. “And you talk empty.” She turns around to leave, shaking her head.

Konohamaru walks away fuming.

Over at the Amaguriama sweets shop, Samui rejoins the group with Naruto in tow.

“Hey, whatcha all doing here?” Naruto greets them, taking a seat next to Gaara.

Samui wordlessly sits with Darui, with everyone save for Naruto noticing that she sits a bit closer than one normally would. That closeness definitely causes Karui to raise an eyebrow, having not seen her former team leader be like this.

“Well, well, the hero’s got time for us?” Kurotsuchi chuckles.

Naruto laughs. “Yeah, you know, I figured you’d all be lonely without me.”

“Definitely quieter, that’s for sure.” Karui jokes.

“We were admiring the variety of foods the Hidden Leaf has to offer.” Gaara states. “It’s definitely a unique flavour.”

“Oh, you ain’t seen nothing! Just stick with me, I’ll show you all the good places!” Naruto declares.

“By that you mean the one ramen place you go to?” Temari raises a brow.

“I mean… yeah…” Naruto becomes flustered. “But it’s really good! You all gotta try it!”

Chojuro smiles. “Maybe we should. We have some free time, after all.”

“Then let’s go” Ittan stands up and offers to go get more food.

The entire group of 11 shinobi stands up and after returning the empty plates that once had their dango served on them, they make their way to Ichiraku Ramen, with Naruto leading the way.

Darui and Samui lag behind a bit, intertwining their fingers as they walk side by side.

* * *

Kaidomaru sits atop a concrete pillar, looking over the Leaf. Not as much as the giant stone faces but still looking over. A village that will most definitely be his enemy one day. He’s not sure exactly when they’ll clash but it’s definitely going to happen.

He will keep his identity a secret as long as he can, his own Uzumaki clan, his involvement with the Great Beasts… The Hidden Leaf and Naruto Uzumaki will be the greatest thorn in his side.

“Can I help you?” He asks, not looking away. “Is it a rematch you want?”

Sasuke steps on the pillar next to the one Kaidomaru is sitting on. “You gave back the Sharingan.”

“I did. Thank you for reminding me, I’d forgotten.” He remarks.

“I’m not in the mood for jokes.”

Kaidomaru looks at him from the corner of his eyes. “No, you don’t seem the type.”

“Why? After everything you went through and all the cryptic messages and threats. What’s your endgame, Sakata?”

“Endgame?” Kaidomaru slowly stands up. “My endgame is to not get any more of my people killed. Apparently someone dangerous is after the Sharingan, as well, so if anyone’s going to be attacked for them, I’d rather it not be us. I already told this to the Hokage, you could’ve asked her about it.”

Sasuke remains motionless, staring right at his foe. “I had to hear it from the source. I didn’t hear anything about the mask. Where did you get it from?”

Kaidomaru shrugs. “I found it while scavenging Obito Uchiha’s lab. He had a few of them.” A lie but maybe Sasuke wouldn’t know the full details. Obito did keep a few masks, after all.

“And it just happened to have an ability unlike anything anyone had ever heard of?” Sasuke grows more suspicious.

“Anyone besides Madara Uchiha and Obito Uchiha, that is.” Kaidomaru continues to spin his web. “They possessed more knowledge than you, I can say that much for certain.”

“Let’s make one thing clear- I don’t trust you or anything you say. You’re up to something. I’ll be keeping an eye on you.”

“Well, if that’s what you truly believe then your first mistake was telling me about it, Sasuke Uchiha.” Kaidomaru hisses the name. “Your lot have already caused the world enough grief, don’t think I’ll take your threats sitting down. I’d advise you don’t ruin things more than you already have. You’re a relic. Your eyes a relic. A time best forgotten.”

With that, Kaidomaru hops off the pillar and onto the balcony below, where Kikyo ‘Chinoike’ observes, her blood-red Ketsuryugan glaring at Sasuke. He’d known she was there; she wasn’t exactly hiding her presence but she also wasn’t doing anything openly hostile so he didn’t pay her much mind.

Kaidomaru pats Kikyo on the shoulder, signaling for her to stand down. He opens the door and enters the room, followed briefly by Kikyo but only after a short staring match between her and the Uchiha. Sasuke remains for a few seconds longer before going off himself.

“I still don’t know why you-”  
  
Kaidomaru raises a hand to cut Kikyo off before she can continue. He nods to Takeshi who was in the room with Kuga and Mizushi. The ANBU goes through his hand signs as an invisible field surrounds them. The energy emanates as an expanding sphere originating from Takeshi’s hands and encompasses the whole room.

“Now we can speak.” Kairomaru lowers his hand.

Kikyo continues. “I still don’t know why you gave the Sharingan back.”

“As I’ve said before, we have no further need for them. The Uzumaki clan is already fully equipped and we have a few spares that were… ‘lost’ when the Kappa attacked. Since Sasuke Uchiha knew that we have them, it was no doubt going to be brought up in the meeting. By giving them back, we secure their goodwill. The only thing I regret is that you didn’t want a Sharingan of your own.”

Kikyo laughs grimly. “I’d rather go blind.”

“Now we just have to play our part.” Takeshi says. “Be the allies they expect us to be as we bide our time.”

“I hope it comes sooner than later. If I have to see one more Inuzuka, I’m going to rip their throat out, I swear.” Kugo crosses her arms.

“Patience, dear Kugo.” Mizushi remains standing with his hands behind his back. “We’ve remained patient for so long, we mustn’t allow everything to crumble at the very end.”

“Yes, yes, I know.” She waves dismissively. 

“So what do we actually need from the Leaf right now?” Kikyo asks.

“Right now? Nothing at all, besides joining the Union.” Kaidomaru shrugs.

“I thought your plan needed a Byakugan. Wasn’t that a big part for opening the Rashomon? Figured you’d want to kill a Hyuga or something.”

“Oh, that.” Kaidomaru chuckles.

He looks at Kikyo, the jutsu formulae appearing around his eyes, unsealing the secrets hidden behind his eyes.

His right turns red with three tomoe swirling around his iris. His left- turns pale with the veins around it popping.

“I’ve had a Byakugan for years. It was the Sharingan that I was missing, that needed its powers unlocked.”

The formulae subside and his eyes turn to their normal colours.

Kikyo smirks. “You sly bastard.”

“It’s only this accursed Byakugan that refuses to evolve further, but I’ll get there if it’s the last thing I do.” Kaidomaru declares.

* * *

Taiga Hazama walks through the streets with some of her more trusted shinobi. She uses the opportunity to not only to explore but also to scout. Finding the Uzumaki clan district is an easy enough task; it’s not exactly hidden.

However, they’re prevented from going anywhere near it.

An ANBU Flickers in front of Taiga, holding out his hand. “You do not have permission to enter the premises.”

Taiga narrows her eyes. “I’m just here for some socializing. Talk to an old friend.”

“You do not have permission to enter the premises.” The ANBU repeats himself in a sterner voice.

Taiga snarls. “Fine.” She walks away with her entourage.

When they get further away, one of the Grass Jounin says quietly so only their group can hear. “There’s ANBU stationed all over the village. I believe they might be following us.”

“For ANBU, they’re not doing a good job of hiding.” Another states.

Taiga sharks her head. “Because they’re not trying. They’re a warning. That Hokage, if she thinks she can keep my property from me…”

One masked ANBU in particular watches from the nearby rooftops, undetected. He takes out a brush and small scroll, painting a few tiny mice that spring to life from his scroll and skitter away.

“Don’t get too close.” Sai warns his creations. “But whatever you do, don’t let them out of your sight.”

* * *

Kotori watches in awe as Mutsu uses his paper jutsu to float in the air, two small paper wings protruding from his back. His control is clunky so he can’t move freely in all dimensions just yet but he can move up, down, and to the sides.

“Wooow. You can fly!” She cheers.

Mutsu smiles widely. “Kind of. Mom taught me a lot of things I didn’t even think were possible.”

Kotori conjures a feather in her hand and holds it up. “Hmm. I wonder…”

“I’d advise not to try.” Shoto warns. 

Kotori nods. Well, if you think I shouldn’t… then I will!” She hops onto some higher ground.

“Wait, NO!” Shoto calls out.

Yokumaru looks around nervously. “Is that really a good idea? You’ve never tried anything like that.”

“Yeah, but it makes sense, right? I can make birds and birds can fly, so I should be able to fly, too!” She surmises.

“You don’t even know how.” Shoto reminds her.

“Yet.”

“Mutsu…” Yokumaru pleads to get him to stop Kotori.

Mutsu rubs the back of his head. “I don’t know, I think it’d be fun.”

Shoto sighs. “Here I thought you were the Yokumaru-type, but you’re apparently more the Kotori-type.”

“What’s that mean?” Kotori puffs out her cheeks. “Whatever, just watch. Mutsu, how do you do it?”

“Uhh, I don’t think it’ll work the same for you. I can turn my body to paper so I control it that way. Your jutsu doesn’t work the same way, does it?”

Kotori focuses her chakra as he usually does, thinking of a condor, the largest flying bird she has in her arsenal. Instead of summoning the entire bird, she only summons the condor feathers behind herself. Large black feathers materialize and come together on her back, magnificent black wings flapping once, causing a gust to blow over the area in front of her.

Once done, she breathes in and focuses once more.

The wings flap violently and fly upward! But leaving her behind on the ground.

Kotori looks up to the wings flying without her and pouts.

“I mean… yeah.” Shoto says as if expecting this to happen.

“You know, you’re being very unsupportive right now!” Kotori argues.

Shoto shrugs. “I’m just being realistic. You’re not going to get something like this on the first try. If it was this easy, everyone could fly.”

“We could try to brainstorm something.” Yokumaru tries to offset some of Shoto’s attitude.

“It’s not like there’s a guide for these things.” Kotori grabs one feather that falls down from the wings. “All I have is the name of a dead clan and a little book with some vague descriptions. I have to learn all this by myself.” She looks down at the feather.

Shoto shrinks back and mutters. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Kotori dismisses the wings, ready to try it again.

“Why’re you so set on the flying now?” Yokumaru asks.

“‘Cause it looks fun!” She grins, trying to push away the previous mood. “If I’m a bird, I should be able to fly. Makes super sense.”

“You’re… not actually a bird, though…” Yokumaru stares.

“Details.” She waves his worries away.

Without them realizing, another presence had stepped within their small circle. A young boy of dark brown hair with a tuft of lighter brown. Kashiwama slams his hands on the ground, erecting a pillar of earth that reaches Mutsu up in the air.

Kashiwama stares the Rain boy down, arms crossed. “State your name and intentions.”

“Um…” Mutsu looks around confused. “Sorry?”

“What’re you doing.” Kotori facepalms.

“I’m making sure this one’s good.” Kashiwama continues to stare.

It takes a flock of sparrows to fly up and peck him on the head to make him get down from there.

“Ow, ow, ow.” He shoos them away. “What was that for?”

They fly back to Kotori where she keeps them active just in case they’re needed.

“Don’t antagonize my friend!” She warns.

Mutsu flies down, releasing his jutsu. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to cause trouble.”

“You’re not, don’t worry.” Shoto reassures him. “Kashiwama’s just… different.”

Kotori sighs. “Well, may as well introduce you. Mutsu, this is Kashiwama Senju, our classmate. Kashiwama, this is Mutsu. Yokumaru and I met him when mom and dad went to the Hidden Rain to help.”

“I see.” Kashiwama extends a hand for a handshake which Mutsu takes.

“It’s… nice to meet you?” Mutsu sounds a bit apprehensive.

“Alright, I’ve decided to help you train.” Kashiwama declares.

“We didn’t ask…”

“It’ll be fun. We can bond.”

“Speaking of bonding, I’m surprised Genzai isn’t around, too.” Shoto chuckles.

“He went to find his brother. Something about wanting to help him train for the Chunin Exams.”

“So… you’re bored?” Shoto raises a brow.  
  


“... Yeah, kinda.” Kashiwama finally admits.

Kotori shakes her head and pushes Kashiwama to get him moving. “Come on, let’s find somewhere to train.”

The rest follow.

* * *

The Leaf is definitely a touch more lively than before. It might not be obvious to an outsider but the locals definitely see the traffic. Shinobi from a total of 10 different villages are roaming the streets and buying or just exploring.

In all this commotion, Naruto managed to bump into an old familiar face. He and Shibuki are roaming the streets themselves, catching up on old times.

“It’s still such a shock to see you all grown up.” Shibuki laughs. “Somehow in my mind you were still a fresh Genin.”

“And you haven’t changed a bit! Well, maybe you look a bit older.” Naruto leans in to inspect Shibuki’s matured face.

“Seven years tend to do that.”

“The Waterfall doing okay?” Naruto asks.

“Yeah.” Shibuki asks. “Can’t say it’s all been easy but we’ve managed. We definitely took a big hit when Fuu died.” His expression turns solemn. “We had a chance to stand close to the Great Villages but now? That’s all washed away.”

“Fuu?” Naruto cocks his head. “Fuu… Oh, Fuu! She was Chomei’s jinchuriki, right?”

“Um, yeah?” Shibuki looks up with a furrowed brow. “She was our jinchuriki and, wait, why do you know that?”

“I met her.” Naruto states without a care as to the implications.

“When? She wasn’t even in the village when your team aided us.”

Naruto scratches his head. “It’s… kinda difficult to explain? See, during the Fourth War, I met up with all the Tailed Beasts and I also met the spirits of their hosts since they were kinda brought back to life for a bit. It’s… weird. She seemed nice, though. Even more energetic than me.”

“That’s… I feel like I’ll need a more detailed explanation than that. When you said brought back, did you mean the Edo Tensei? The Second Hokage’s infamous jutsu.”

“Yeah, that’s the one! All the jinchuriki were brought back to fight us but we freed them and they managed to pass on peacefully.”

“I see.” Shibuki closes his eyes and exhales in relief. “At least it’s good to hear it was resolved. I do agree, though- she can match your energy quite well. I’m sure you would’ve gotten along if you’d met.”

“Maybe.” Naruto smiles. “But her spirit still lives on through Chomei and me. Gonna honour the last jinchuriki best as I can.”

“Thank you. I’d like to honour Fuu, as well, but I don’t know how I can when her killer is attempting to join the alliance. I heard… you played a role in the Hidden Rain’s pardon.”

Naruto’s mood dampens slightly. “Konan’s different now.”

“So I’ve been told. I’m not as inclined to believe people can change so easily.”

“I don’t think it was easy at all. She lost her friend, the last remaining person she was really close to. Almost lost her life but now reunited with her son. It’s been a lot. Just… please, give her a chance.”

Shibuki looks to Naruto with stern eyes. “Many people didn’t get a second chance because of her. That’s not something easily forgiven. However, I’ve promised to try. I want this Union to succeed so I’ll grit my teeth.”

“Thank you.”

“Heeeeey! Naruto!” Sasame runs right toward them, her ginger hair lashing behind her as she waves enthusiastically. She stops right in front of them and grins. “Found you! And… you’re Shibuki, right? Hidden Waterfall’s leader.”

“That’s right. You’re from the Hidden Mountain.”

“I am. Kinda. It’s been only about a year since we’ve been a part of it, though.” She rubs the back of her head. “Sasame Fuma, nice to meet you.”

“Fuma? Then you’re from what was once the Land of Rice Paddies.” Shibuki recalls the news of the two lands merging. It’s news that spread through the whole shinobi world like wildfire; it’s difficult to not know it happened, especially since his land borders the Land of Woods.

“Yes, sir.”

“Sounds like you’re really well informed, Shibuki.” Naruto notes.

“I have to be.” He responds. “A leader has to know everything about their neighbours, after all. Be they friend or foe.” He then looks between the two of them. “You two know each other, then?”

“We do!” Sasame answers. “Naruto helped me get my clan back to their feet a few years ago. I don’t think the Fuma clan could’ve survived without him and his teacher.”

Shibuki laughs. “Then we share that in common. You certainly have a way of helping people, don’t you, Naruto?”

Naruto looks away, trying to hide his reddened cheeks. “Well, you know…”

Sasame smirks. “Since when were you the modest type? Would’ve thought you’d be pounding your chest with pride at what a hero you are.”

“Right?” Shibuki laughs. “That’s much more in-character.”

Naruto grumbles. “Why does everyone feel the need to gang up on me.”

After having a good laugh at Naruto’s expense, Sasame looks between with a hint of nervousness. “I know I probably shouldn’t be asking, but…” She turns to Naruto, “How much do you know about the meeting?”

“Gra-” He stops himself, masking his near slip-up with a cough. “Lady Hokage told me what happened. Shibuki kinda filled me in, too.”

“Right. You know, I really hope this thing goes through. It’d be great if we could all be allies. But from the look of things…”

“This is the nature of negotiations.” Shibuki explains. “Not everyone is going to agree on everything. You can’t allow something like that to get you doubting. All in all, it could’ve gone much worse.”

“Maybe it could’ve.” Naruto shrugs. “But there’s a lotta people who want it to happen so I know they’ll try to make it happen. We just gotta trust ‘em, okay?” He gives her a reassuring grin.

As the group walks down the streets, making small talk, it doesn’t take long for them to run into a somewhat odd sight. As they turn the corner, discussing the future of the Shinobi Union, they see… another Naruto, with shinobi from the Hidden Star.

“Naruto?” Sasame stares between the two of them.

-x-

_A few minutes earlier_

Naruto seems to have a lot of fateful encounters this day. Two Shadow Clones already met up with old friends and this one is not that different.

Sitting on a bench at a nearby park three shinobi from the Hidden Star mull over their village’s fate and its potential status in the Union. Sumaru, a young man of shoulder length green hair, Hokuto, a young woman whose brown hair is tied up in a spiky ponytail, and Mizura, a pale young man with short dull purple hair except for two longer bangs framing his face.

Sumaru is by far the most animated and clearly does not care who hears him. “So what if this Union is the future?! You’re saying we should just abandon who we are?!”

Mizura shrinks in his seat and mutters. “No, that’s not…”

Hokuto stands up in her friend’s defence. “Lay off it, Sumaru. You think you’re the only one affected by any of this? This might come off as a shock but we care about the village just as much as you!”

“Yet you have no problem with their unreasonable demands?”

A voice interrupts their argument. “Geez, I think the Hidden Star can hear you.” Naruto approaches, giving a mock salute. “Yo.”

“Naruto…” Sumaru walks over to him. “Did you know about this?”

“About you being loud? Yeah, I gathered.” Naruto jests.

“No! About your Union wanting us to stop calling our leader Hoshikage!” Sumaru explains.

“Yeah, I heard. Is that why you’re shouting at each other?” Naruto walks around Sumaru and smiles at the others. “Hey, you two. How you doing?”

“Hey, Naruto.” They both greet.

“Don’t ignore me!” Sumaru remains as loud as ever.

Naruto sighs. “Look, man, I just found out today, alright? It’s not like I make any decisions about the Union, that’s Gra- the Hokage’s job. Is it really that bad, though?”

Mizura sighs. “Please don’t get him started.”

“Of course it is!” Sumaru protests. “How would you like it if you were told you can’t use the title Hokage?”

“But that’s not gonna happen. The leaders of the Five Great Villages are called Kage, it’s just how it is.” Naruto answers. “No one would make that demand.”

Sumaru clicks his tongue. “And here I thought you’d understand. Guess I was wrong about you.” He storms off and sits on the next bench over.

Naruto scratches his head. “Look, we’re not kids anymore, y’know? I learned we gotta look at the bigger picture. It’s not always about what we want but what’s best for everyone.”

“Thank you for understanding, Naruto.” Hokuto leans back, giving up on convincing Sumaru. “Gotta say, I’m surprised how much you’ve changed.”

“I keep getting told that…”

Another voice interrupts their conversation. “Naruto?” He turns around to see Sasame, Shibuki, and… himself.

-x-

“Hey, guys.” Both Narutos greet the group they weren’t with until now.

Everyone raises a brow and stares at them both.

“What?” The Naruto ask, confused.

“You were a Shadow Clone the entire time?” Hokuto asks.

“Maybe.” One Naruto shrugs.

“Or maybe I’m the real one.” The other Naruto adds.

“This is weird…” Sasame blinks. “There’s two of them.”

“There’s a lot more out in the village. It’s really convenient!” Naruto grins. “This way I can talk to everyone at once!”

Shibuki laughs. “I’d expect nothing less from you, Naruto.” When he stops, he takes a closer look at the people the other Naruto was with. “You’re Star shinobi, huh?”

“And you’re…” Sumaru stares. “The Hidden Waterfall leader. You were going on about how we should stop using Hoshikage as a title.”

Shibuki turns to him. “It’s only natural.”

Hokuto gets up and stands in front of Sumaru. “Don’t start again. Just drop it. This isn’t your call to make and you’re only going to get us thrown out.”

“Maybe it’s for the better.” Sumaru storms off, heading down the street.

Hokuto facepalms. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright.” Shibuki reassures her. “You seem to be much more relaxed about what was said at the meeting.”

“It’s not like… I’m not upset about it. The whole reason we’ve been isolated is because we didn’t want to be a larger nation’s servant, we didn’t want anyone else to dictate how we should live. But I suppose that’s what it means to be a small village in a small nation, huh?”

“I’m afraid so.” Shibuki nods. “It’s not easy for any of us. Waterfall, Mountain, Frost, Grass… even Rain. We’ve all had to follow someone else’s orders if we wanted to remain on top. Even with this new Union, we’re not going to be equals but we’re not going to be stepped on like we have. It’s a necessary step and we’re all making sacrifices.”

“I guess,” Mizura contemplates, “it’s not fair to just think about ourselves. It’s like you said, Naruto, we have to think about what’s best for everyone.” He looks up to the two Naruto. “Um, which one of you was it that said it?”

Sasame looks to the two remaining Star shinobi. “Say, how do you two know Naruto, anyway?”

“Oh, he helped us a long time ago. Practically saved the village from being taken over by someone we trusted.” Hokuto explains, brushing her bangs as a distraction from the embarrassment that they were betrayed by one of their own.

Shibuki chuckles. “That’s exactly what happened in the Hidden Waterfall, too, not long after I took over.”

  
“Same.” Sasame nods. “How many people _have_ you saved, Naruto?”

Both Shadow Clones rub their heads. “These things just keep happening around me, y’know? I’m just glad we were able to help.”

“I suppose it’s safe to say none of us would be here if not for you and your team.” Shibuki looks over the gathered group. “I suppose that fact is enough reason to at least try to get along with the Rain. I make no promises, however.”

One of the Naruto pat him on the back. “You won’t regret it, I promise.”

The other Naruto addresses the group. “How about we all go for some ramen? Celebrate our reunion.”

“I suppose I could go for some.” Shibuki agrees.

“Sure!” Sasame sounds eager.

Mizura and Hokuto share a look before turning to the rest. “Yeah, let’s.”

“Alright!” The two Naruto drape their arms over each other’s shoulder, beginning to walk towards Ichiraku Ramen. As they walk, one of them disappears in a puff of smoke, leaving behind only one Shadow Clone.

Shibuku stares at them as they all follow. “Which one was that?”

The others shrug.

* * *

Outside of the Hidden Leaf, Naruto, one of many, walks in between the trees to a spot very special to him. Passing through the forest enough to where the surrounding trees no longer block his vision, he sees the marked stone he was looking for.

Marked with the symbol 師, for teacher, with one kunai atop it connected to two other kunai lodged to the side, this is the spot he and Konan had picked to honour their sensei. And as expected, Konan herself is quietly sitting in front of this very stone.

Naruto walks out from behind the trees, not attempting to mask his presence. “Figured you’d be here.”

Konan turns her head lightly and smiles. “I suppose I should expect nothing less of a Sage, to find me so easily.”

Naruto walks over and sits down with her. “Didn’t use my senjutsu. I just… thought you might be here.”

“Yeah. I was just… thinking. If I’d realized my mistake earlier, if I’d tried harder to convince Nagato… Sensei would still be…”

Naruto interrupts her by placing an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a hug. “Don’t.”

Konan remains silent for a moment, stunned by the hug, but gives a brighter smile than before. “You know, I’m older. I should be the one reassuring and encouraging you.”

“Maybe. But you didn’t really get to have a childhood, did you? I was blessed with a home, with friends… I didn’t have to risk my life to survive like you did. So don’t feel like you gotta be an adult when you didn’t get to be a kid first.”

Konan wraps an arm around him, as well. “That definitely sounds like something Jiraiya-sensei would say. But I still have to be somewhat of an adult, for Mutsu’s sake.”

“Hey, I’m still a kid and I adopted Kotori. You’ll be fine.”

Konan laughs, joined shortly by Naruto.

The two remain at the marker for a much longer time than any of them intended. They share stories of Jiraiya, be it of him as the Toad Sage or the Pervy Sage. They reminisce of the lessons he taught, some useful, most useless. But mostly they sit in silence, just enjoying each other’s company.

* * *

As the end of the day comes and the sun sets, both Hinata and Kotori come home at the same time, bumping into each other at the front door. Hinata is visibly mentally exhausted and Kotori is visibly physically exhausted. And muddy. And grinning despite that.

“Hi, mom!” She greets.

“Kotori.” Hinata smiles, her mood slightly lightened. “You look like you had fun.”

“Yep! Trained with Yokumaru, Shoto, Mutsu, and Kashiwama! I was trying to learn to fly!” She briefs Hinata on her day.

“To fly?” Hinata raises a brow.  
  
“Yeah. Mutsu could do it with his papers so I thought I could maybe do it with my feathers. It… didn’t work.” She gives a bashful laugh.

“Maybe I can help you figure it out.” Hinata hugs the girl and opens the door. “For now, let’s see if Naruto is home.”

“Okay!” Kotori beams at the offer.

As soon as the door opens, they’re both struck by the intrusive smell of charred meat and smoke. Hinata runs in, worried that their home has burned down. She doesn’t see any damage done to any of the main rooms but all becomes clear when she and Kotori enter the kitchen.

Naruto is at the stove, trying desperately to put out a burning pan.

Hinata runs over and grabs a lid, taking the pan from Naruto and placing the lid over the pan and smother the flames.

“Uhhh…” Naruto stammers. “Welcome home?”

Hinata sighs and slumps her shoulders.

“Sorry?”

Kotori waves her hand in front of her face, trying to keep the smoke at bay. “I don’t think what you were planning worked.”

“I, uh, thought you’d be tired from working all day, so… Well, yeah, no, it didn’t work.” Naruto explains.

Hinata can’t help but laugh at the situation. “Oh, Naruto... “ She rests her head on his chest. “Thank you for trying.”

“Should we order something instead?” Kotori asks.

“I think that might be best.” Hinata agrees. “Something more filling than ramen, maybe?”

“I’ll... send a Clone to grab us something.” Naruto conjures a doppleganger to do just that, as the family instead heads to the living room to relax on the sofa until food arrives. “How was your day?” He asks.

“Tiring.” Hinata sounds like it. “Yours?”

“It was good. I met up with a lot of people today. Well, my Clones did, at least. I went to talk to Konan. Got back not long ago.”

“I’m trying to learn to fly!” Kotori declares.

“Flying?” Naruto raises a brow. “Can you even do that?”  
  
Kotori shrugs. “I dunno.”

“Given her skillset, it may be possible.” Hinata surmises. “We don’t really know enough about it, unfortunately.”

“Then we gotta help you figure it out!” Naruto grins. “How about we do some training later?”

“Alright!” Kotori jumps at the offer.  
  
“But before that,” Hinata interrupts her joy, “You need a bath, young lady. So do I, actually.”

Kotori looks down at her dirty clothes. “Oh, right. I’ll go get it ready.” She runs off to the bath to prepare it for the two of them.

Hinata lazily rests her head on Naruto’s shoulder.

“Hey, don’t go falling asleep now.” Naruto chuckles.

“I won’t.” Hinata says drowsily.

Naruto kisses her on the top of the head and pulls her closer. “Just a little bit longer.”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NAME MEANINGS
> 
> Umai (ウマイ, Umai) = ‘clever’
> 
>   
> AUTHOR'S NOTE
> 
> Before I began writing, I didn’t actually know how old Samui is. I always thought she’s from Naruto’s generation but she’s actually from Kakashi. In Shippuden, Samui is 29 years old and Darui is 26. At this point in the timeline, they’re 31 and 28 respectively. So in case anyone thought Samui is young, she isn’t.


End file.
